


Who's Protecting Who?

by Hushman, Rueitae



Series: Altean Plance AU [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Altean Lance (Voltron), Altean Pidge | Katie Holt, Battle Couple, Bodyguard, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Intrigue, Magic, Mystery, Romantic Fluff, Strangers to Lovers, Weddings, altean everyone actually, and solving a mystery to save the kingdom, ends with one anyway, friendly but deadly wildlife, i want a pet gombash, this fic is so old but I still love it, to be young and in love and doing magic together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26664181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hushman/pseuds/Hushman, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rueitae/pseuds/Rueitae
Summary: Pidge is a princess. Albeit several generations removed from the throne, but still a princess and raised to support Allura when she one day takes the throne. As a princess - and a very nosy and adventurous one at that - most of the adults in her life would like her to have a bodyguard. Just in case.After going through dozens of potential bodyguards like candy, Castle guard Shiro thinks he's finally found the one that will stick with Pidge through and through.
Relationships: Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: Altean Plance AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940095
Comments: 10
Kudos: 36





	1. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is so old. It's been on tumblr for ages. Both of our writing has since improved, but since it had a fair bit of traction back in the day, Hushman and I finally decided to get it out on Ao3 for easier readability and to, well, archive it. We hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> You can find the fic and related works (other fics and art) on Tumblr [here](https://altean-plance-au.tumblr.com/post/172738280569/altean-plance-content-page-so-considering-that-so)! We plan to post everything under First Assignment and end with the Wedding for the main story on Ao3, and add the Learning Curve as extra fics in the series.

“Pidge.” His voice was neutral, but she knew that wasn’t an accurate assessment of his feelings.

He was probably furious.

It might have had something to do with the vine that was wrapped around his legs, torso, and robot arm.

“Shiro,” she responded to match his tone. She discreetly held out her hand near her hip and willed the vines to de-tangle from the captain of the castle guard. A bright emerald ball of light in her palms was the only indication she commanded the plants. She folded her hands neatly behind her, preparing for the scolding that was about to come her way.

She made sure to at least show remorse on her features for making him an accidental target.

Shiro lost face at that, pinching his eyebrows together as to relieve the pressure of a headache. “You can’t keep doing this.”

Not the vine. It was the other thing then. Pidge’s face morphed into a far less apologetic frown.

They met in the gardens, a favorite hangout of Pidge’s. Provided she was within the castle grounds, it was widely known this was where she could be found. Most avoided her, as the majority of the time here was spent experimenting with her green magic.

“I am completely capable of taking care of myself, Shiro. I don’t need a bodyguard,” she emphasized. “They’d just be in my way if I ever did have to defend myself.”

“So can Matt and Allura, but you don’t see them throwing prickly poltae at their bodyguards.”

“Yeah,” Pidge agreed. “Because neither of them have the ability to control plants.”

Shiro was silent for a moment. “Ancients grant me strength,” he murmured. “Look, Pidge, King Alfor would prefer you have a bodyguard around. It’s precautionary. He cares about you.”

Pidge made a displeased face.

“So I’m going to keep trying until I find a good match.”

Pidge felt her eyebrow twitch.

“I have someone I’d like you to meet.” It was a phrase Pidge had heard far too often in the last few years. Shiro whistled and waved over her next babysitter from across the way.

She bit her lip and balled up the fabric of her green dress in her fists. Shiro was a friend, and she hated to cause him grief. This bodyguard business was just wholly unnecessary.

Shiro trained his subordinates well for being relatively new to his appointment. Pidge knew and understood they were good. Magic though, while not unheard of, wasn’t exactly common. Most bodyguards assigned to her didn’t know how to react or deal with Pidge’s experiments. She had the power and it was her responsibility to know exactly what she could and could not do. They would assume she didn’t have control and interrupt her mid spell, which annoyingly too often resulted in being tackled to the ground and the plants going wild. Her last guard was still in a cryopod recovering from poisoning.

Everything would have been fine if he’d just left her alone to finish.

Maybe. She needed to redo that test. She made a mental note for later.

The new victim approached. He was cocky. That was the first thing Pidge noticed. His swagger was more noticeable than his white hair. This annoyed Pidge instantly. That white hair meant he could be a sacred Altean, like cousin Allura, able to operate a teledav and perform extensive rejuvenation ceremonies for a balmera.

He was a guard? By all logic he should be studying alchemy, not being a guard. It irked her in a way she couldn’t quite grasp.

He wore a goofy grin the entire jog to them. He certainly looked the part of an honor guard despite his grin. Every part of his mainly white uniform was polished and tailored. Shiro was a stickler for looking his part, and it seemed he’d found someone who shared his enthusiasm for formal dress.

“Captain,” the guard greeted with a salute.

Shiro’s mouth twitched. Pidge knew that look. He was amused. Why was he amused by a standard military greeting?

Her eyes narrowed as Shiro side eyed her with a twinkle in his eye. He was convinced he had found the one. Pidge had to admit the duality of this guard intrigued her.

She crossed her arms, a scowl on her face. The guard stole a gaze her way and gave her a hopelessly confused expression.

It made Pidge even more irritated. He was interesting, but he was going to underestimate her. Just like everyone else.

“Pidge, this is Lance. He’s been training with us for a couple of years. I’m hoping you two will hit it off.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Majesty,” Lance said. “Beauty really does run in the family.” He winked at her.

He _winked_ at her.

Her eyes widened unintentionally. Not only was he wasting magical potential, had a general lack of seriousness (besides his uniform apparently), but he was an unashamed flirt.

Pidge looked at Shiro. He was smiling. He was smirking. He knew. He was quiznaking doing this on purpose.

This was a war of wills and Lance was going to be stuck in the middle.

Pidge was going to win this.

“Just Pidge,” she informed Lance coolly. “I like to save the ceremony for outsiders.”

Lance seemed surprised, but then slightly pouty. “That’s too bad, I was looking forward to court protocol. That’s what knights do.”

Excited for court posturing? This was looking worse by the tick. “Let’s see if you’re prepared for this.” Before Shiro could protest Pidge raised her arms with equal parts grace and power. The vines of the large kelones fruit wrapped around an increasingly frazzled Lance. Pidge twisted her hands, tightening the vines and turning him upside down midair.

“…okay this is pretty cool,” Lance said after his initial screams. His panicked expression quickly turning into a grin. “Can you lift me to the window? I think Jenny is running the laundry today.”

Pidge turned to the captain. “Shiro, he’s insane. You can’t leave me with him,” she pleaded.

“Hey!” Lance protested. “I’m right here.”

“I’ve got a good feeling about this one,” Shiro said with a knowing smile. “I need to get ready for Emperor Zarkon’s visit tonight. You two relax and get to know each other. I’ll see you both for supper.”

Then he left, his lack of worry stunning the both of them.

“Hey Pidge?”

“What?” She asked dryly.

“Can you let me down? My head feels funny.”

Without looking his way, she opened her palm in his direction and allowed the vines to relax around him and let gravity do the rest.

——-

Pidge was vindicated later. Lance was indeed infuriating.

Not infuriating in the way her previous guards had been. The verdict was still out on that one, since she had yet to find an opportunity to escape from her room and into the forest to practice her magic.

Because Lance was still here. In her room. Talking.

“So that’s why mom started working at the castle,” he finishes with his latest story. He was standing now, examining her portable telescope. “Wow, I haven’t seen one of these since we organized grandpa’s barn.”

“Be careful, it’s an antique.” Pidge dug her fingernails into her bare arms. It had been a birthday gift from Matt. She didn’t want it broken. She held back though. If Lance was going to be attached to her hip now, she was going to make an effort to get him to trust her. That started with her trusting him.

She felt like a broken record.

“I love old astronomy equipment. Marco’s wife works under Commodore Trayling and she sends me cool space stuff all the time.” To Pidge’s relief he set it back down.

“It’s getting a little late, Lance. I should probably get ready for tonight.” She internally begged him to take the hint.

Lance blinked in confusion. “You’re already ready though. And we still have five hours before dinner.”

“I need all of those hours. Do you know how long it takes to apply all that makeup?” She bluffed.

“Oh yeah,” Lance agreed all too quickly. “I can help you apply it. I did my sisters' for Marco’s wedding and everybody raved about it,” he said smugly. “You’d be done in half the time.”

Pidge was shell shocked, her brain running for excuses.

“I need to go to the bathroom. And take a shower.” She paused, then added quickly, “and you are not following me in there.” Because it happened once and had prompted her to actually have to say something about it to all the guards since.

“Not a problem. I’ll be right here.” He sat down on her favorite reading chair and started to look at a few of her books, settling on one about elemental magic.

Relieved, Pidge hurried into the bathroom and turned on the water for the shower. She opened the linen closet. Then opened the door inside the closet that led to the tunnel that led outside the castle.

The perks of Shiro being a newer captain was that he didn’t know every secret passageway. Yet.

——

She returned just in time to actually take a shower, having worked up a sweat from magic practice. The trees hadn’t responded how she’d hoped, but that trick with the juniberries was going to be the perfect gift for Allura’s birthday.

It pleased her so much that she’d forgotten about Lance.

With only a towel wrapped around her (praise the ancients she had that) she stepped back into her room to change into her dinner dress.

She was not prepared for what greeted her.

Lance had his back to her, but she could tell he was clearly looking through her journal. Her academic journal. The one with interspersed personal ramblings as well as scientific observations.

Books were open everywhere on the table and bed. Her vanity was neatly organized rather than the mess it normally was. A few jars were open off to the side.

And it was just a tad bit chilly. Her shower had been cold but she didn’t remember her room being this cold before. Was something wrong with the heating systems?

“Welcome back, Pidge,” Lance said cheerfully. His back was still to her. “I wasn’t sure what your facial routine was so I tried out a couple.”

He turned around and Pidge made sure the only thing he saw was her slamming the bathroom door with her on the opposite side. He continued to talk without skipping a beat. Her heart beat so fast she couldn’t even bother to respond.

“I’ve also heard some really good things about the Naquadian foundation, so I opened it up. Hope you don’t mind. It is excellent. I’ve been trying to hide this mole for years and it actually conceals it! I definitely recommend.” Pidge could hear the metallic containers clinking around as Lance was examining them again. “We can start with that and then I think the eyeliner would really bring out the gold in your eyes. They’re way too pretty to not get noticed.”

He was serious about doing her makeup.

He said her eyes were pretty.

Inexplicably, she didn’t feel as cold.

She changed into the same green dress she’d been wearing earlier. It was a little on the sweaty side - she tended to do that anyway whether she took part in strenuous activity or not. The gold trim on the dress still made it acceptable to wear for dinner. She might receive strange looks from her older relations, but she knew she’d have solidarity in Allura and Matt.

She walked out of the bathroom with a glare, fully intending to chew Lance out, despite the fact she’d left him here alone for the better part of the afternoon.

“Same dress?” He asked, eyebrow raised. “Don’t you have like, a million of them?”

“I do not,” she said shortly, “and this happens to be my favorite so I want to wear it.” It wasn’t a complete lie. It was her favorite dress. It also went into the forest with her the most, so she did normally change for state events.

“You’re the princess," he shrugged. “I can work with this. Take a seat.” Without warning he took Pidge gently by the hand and guided her to the seat at the vanity, just as he would do escorting her to her chair at dinner. He turned on the crystalline lights.

“I can do my own makeup, Lance,” she said. The excitement from her afternoon of magic practice was quickly fading to annoyance. Like most of her previous bodyguards, Lance seemed well meaning enough, but was already hovering. Inside her own room no less! At least most of them would wait outside like an actual guard.

“Yeah I know, you’ve obviously been doing it for a while considering how often you attend state events. I just enjoy doing this,” he said. He finally found a cleansing wipe and started with her forehead. “Cold showers are good for you after exercise, but you weren’t in there long enough to get your morning makeup off.”

Pidge froze. “I was in the shower the whole time.”

Lance continued to wipe her face, his eyes furrowed in concentration. “Yeah that’s why you have day old foundation on and smell like the forest. Pidge, you live in a castle. It’s like a rule that there are secret passageways everywhere.”

Pidge felt her brain stop working. “And you didn’t come after me?”

Lance threw the dirtied wipe in the trash receptacle and fished out a new one. “It didn’t sound like the water was hitting you in the shower so checked on you a varga later to make sure you weren’t dying. You were already gone. No idea where you went and didn’t want to send everyone into panic frantically looking for you. I figured I’d just wait until you came back. You’ve got plenty of cool stuff here to keep me occupied for a few hours.”

Without warning Lance stood up, drew his broadsword, and sliced through the air in one fluid motion, knocking his chair over in the process. Pidge leaned back, stunned by the unexplained action.

On the floor was a small drone, purple and grey in color, cut cleanly in half. Lance sheathed his sword and picked it up, holding it out in his palm to Pidge.

“If there’s a spy and they had found out you were out alone? It could have gotten ugly.”

Pidge took the destroyed drone with shaky hands and examined it. She didn’t recognize the make and model, which unnerved her more. She’d only been a small child during the last attempted murder of an Altean noble. It seemed her tinkering of old teledav parts would have to wait, as well as her magic practice.

“How did you notice? I didn’t even hear it.”

“Grew up on a farm,” Lance explained. “I haven’t quite gotten used to the constant hum of machinery yet here in the city.” It’s been buzzing around since you came out of the bathroom the second time.

Pidge admitted she was impressed. Not out loud. “I would have been fine.”

“Maybe. Whoever was listening knows you sneak out though. So the next time you go out, promise you’ll take me with you,” Lance pleaded. “It is my job.”

His eyes were filled with nothing but sincerity. He did just do her, and the planet, a great service. “Only if you promise to let me practice my magic when we go out.”

Lance’s pupils bulged. “Practice? You’re like perfect at it already why do you need to practice?”

“Because there is always room for improvement, just like technology. I need to become more precise, more powerful, learn the quirks of more plants,” she explained. “I have this gift and I have a responsibility to know it as well as I can. Some people don’t get that.”

“And that’s why you’ve gone through an entire regiment’s worth of bodyguards in the last three years?”

“Look, it’s nothing personal,” Pidge said. “I know Uncle just wants to make sure I’m safe, but I need to be able to take care of myself. What if something were to happen to you?”

“After today? Honestly I’m relieved.” Lance said as he sat back down. He scooped up some cream and began to spread it over her face. “When Shiro selected me to serve as a bodyguard for the royal family I freaked out. I mean I love the idea, it’s a great way to become a hero, but the actual responsibility that I have? It’s terrifying. You Pidge? You’re really good with that plant magic. If I fail, you can save yourself.”

The words were music to her ears. Pidge decided right then and there she needed to keep this one.

“Besides your room is amazing! You have top of the line facial cream,” he rambled, putting some of said cream on his own face. “I’ll get to go to all the royal functions.” He gasped. “I’ll get to see Princess Allura. Is she as beautiful as everyone says she is?”

Pidge deflated. Maybe a few more tests were in order to weed him out.


	2. First Impressions pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The same day but from Lance's point of view

Poisoned?!” Samuel asked in dismay.

“The princess did assure me it was unintentional,” Coran replied. “I have received word from the infirmary that he should make full recovery.”

After breakfast, Samuel had arrived at King Alfor’s private study so that he, the king, head advisor Coran Smythe and Captain Shiro could discuss the final preparations for Emperor Zarkon’s arrival. However the first matter on the agenda had instead been his daughter’s ongoing trouble with maintaining a bodyguard.

“Samuel, I love Katie dearly but I can not keep asking Shiro to find replacement bodyguards.” King Alfor said. “In the last three years she has gone through enough bodyguards to fill its own regiment.”

“You’re exaggerating Alfor,” Samuel replied.

Shiro handed Samuel a tablet listing all the guards that had been assigned to watching the young princess. “Actually, considering average regiment size, she has gone through about a regiment and a half.”

“Oh quiznak,” Samuel muttered, “I swear, I’ll have a talk with her about this.”

“You did have a talk with her about this, about 23 guards ago, when we last brought this to your attention,”Alfor replied. “And in her defense, the next guard she had after your talk did last almost a whole Quintent longer than what has become the average. It might be time for a different approach.”

“What if we placed an electric collar around her neck that would track her location and deliver a mild electric shock if she left the castle unsupervised.” Coran suggested.

“This is my daughter we’re talking about,” Samuel said indignantly. “She’d have that collar deactivated within thirty ticks. Ten if she didn’t do it with her eye’s closed just to prove a point.”

“True,” Coran replied before contemplating for a moment. “I’ve got it! We use a leash with a really long chain.”

“Do we at least know why she is against a having bodyguard?” Alfor asked.

“She feels she doesn’t need a bodyguard and is easily irritated by the guards that get assigned to her,” Samuel replied. “I think if she could get along with the guard she wouldn’t be as vehemently against it.”

Shiro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. All his choices for bodyguards had been based on skill and previous experience. While that approach served well in other cases, maybe it was time go for someone based on personality instead.”

“I can respect that but if she hasn’t been able to get along with any of the guards she has been assigned thus far, I doubt she’ll like any of them,” King Alfor said dismissively.

“Actually, there is one person we haven’t tried yet,” Shiro said. “He’s a less orthodox choice but I think he may be what we’re looking for.”

“I’ll trust your judgment,” King Alfor replied. “Assign him and if he doesn’t work out we’ll revisit the leash idea.”

Everyone present was pretty sure Alfor was joking about that last part.

* * *

Shiro was at his desk in his office when a white-haired Altean walked in and gave him a salute.

“You wanted to see me, sir.”

“Take a seat Lance,” Shiro replied.

Lance complied before starting to talk again.

“Listen, if this is about that thing with the diplomat’s daughter, I am really sorry.”

“No it’s not, as far as I can tell that matter was resolved. Though for the record, that had been the diplomat’s wife.”

“Really? I must find out the product she uses cause she looked phenomenal.”

“We’re getting sidetracked,” Shiro scolded. “You’re here because I have an assignment for you. You will be acting as bodyguard to Princess Katie.”

Lance sat up straighter at that.

“Seriously?”

“Is that a problem?” Shiro asked.

“No, it’s just I figured that job would go to someone a bit more senior.”

“There have been some..difficulties in finding someone suited for the role,” the captain said tactfully. “And despite a few ‘incidents’ your performance has been highly commendable. I have the absolute faith that you are the best man for the job.”

“Thank you sir, I won’t let you down.”

“Very good, now you have two vargas to prepare and I’ll introduce to the princess this afternoon.”

* * *

“What do you mean it’s not ready yet? It’s already been two quintents.”

Hunk, a well built Altean male with short brown hair, rolled his eyes as he continued to pour juice into bottles.

“I have told you repeatedly, spicedjuniberry juice must be slow cooked for two quintents and then chilled before serving. It’s only just finished cooking and it is going to take at least six vargas to chill in the fridge so you’re going to have to wait.”

Instead of replying, Lance paused to check that no one was around before he picked up one of the bottles filled with warm juice and blew on it. He then handed now cold bottle back to Hunk.

The large altean glanced once at the bottle that now felt like it had spent six vargas in the fridge and once at his white haired friend.

“Remind me again, why exactly are you keeping your magic a secret?”

“Just pour the juice!”

Hunk took out two glasses and filled them with the now chilled liquid.

“What’s the rush?” Hunk asked as he passed Lance a glass.

“I have to meet Shiro for my new assignment in a varga and we both know that once word gets out that you made your spiced juniberry juice it will be gone in a dobash.”

“Fair enough,” Hunk replied before both Alteans took a sip from their juice. “So what’s the assignment?”

“I’ll be the bodyguard to Princess Katie.”

“Seriously? Aren’t you worried?”

“I am bit,” Lance admitted. “I mean, being solely responsible for the safety of a princess is a lot to take on but Shiro has faith in me so I’m sure I can manage.”

“I don’t mean just protecting any princess, I mean this particular princess,” Hunk explained. “Word is she goes through bodyguards like toilet paper. I spoke to nurse Glacia and she said they were still treating the last bodyguard the princess had. They said the princess poisoned him.”

“Come on Hunk, you know how the rumour mill is, I’m sure it will be fine,” Lance replied. “Just got to be myself and it will all work out.”

Hunk rolled his eyes, he loved Lance like a brother but he sometimes worried about the young guard’s grip on reality. He chose to remain silent though, he wasn’t a guard so it wasn’t really his place to judge and for all he knew, Lance might surprise him. This might just be the boost Lance’s career needed.

His doubts were then redoubled when Lance broke the silence.

“So you spoke to nurse Galcia. Did she ask me at all?”

* * *

Lance arrived with Shiro in one of the royal gardens. On the way there Shiro had brought Lance up to speed on the Princess’s previous guards and unfortantly the rumours were starting to sound more plausible.

“Wait here until I call for you,” Shiro ordered.

Doing what he was told, Lance stood there as Shiro approached the princess. Seeing her from the distance Lance was certain that the rumours were unfounded. She looked the part of a princess with flowing brown hair, green and gold dress, elegant pose. There is no way someone that looked so sweet would poison a guard.

Lance started to rethink that analysis that Shiro had trapped in some vines. Still when Shiro signaled him to come over, he put on a confident smirk and a little extra swagger in his step. He would be able to win her over with some of the Lance McLain charm.

Shortly afterward he was dangling in the air by his ankles.

Maybe he needed a different approach.

* * *

Shiro left the Lance and the Princess, or Pidge as she insisted to be called, alone. Once Pidge set Lance free from the vines the two started to head to her room. Lance decided to break the ice by telling her a bit about himself.

“So that’s why mom started working at the castle,” he finished with his latest story. Whilst he had been talking he also examined Pidges room. Checking for any potential threats or vulnerabilities but also because her room was filled with so many wondrous things. His current focus was a portable telescope.

“Wow, I haven’t seen one of these since we organized grandpa’s barn.”,

“Be careful, it’s an antique,” Pidge ordered.

Having been taught that antique meant far more than what you could afford, Lance carefully set the telescope back down.

“I love old astronomy equipment,” Lance stated, hoping to find some common ground with the princess. “Marco’s wife works under Commodore Trayling and she sends me cool space stuff all the time.”

Pidge didn’t seem enthused by this and instead said, “It’s getting a little late, Lance. I should probably get ready for tonight.”

Lance blinked in confusion. It was an obvious ploy to get him to leave since she looked ready for tonight but Lance wasn’t exactly sure why Pidge would be wanting to get him to leave. Especially since they were meant to be getting to know each other better.

“You’re already ready though. And we still have five vargas before dinner.”

“I need all of those vargas. Do you know how long it takes to apply all that makeup?” She replied.

That made sense to Lance though it gave him inspiration for how he could prove to Pidge that he was useful to have around.

“Oh yeah,I can help you apply it. I did my sister’s for Marco’s wedding and everybody raved about it, You’d be done in half the time.”

“I need to go to the bathroom. And take a shower.” Pidge replied, then added quickly, “and you are not following me in there.”

“Not a problem. I’ll be right here.” He replied as he made himself comfortable in a nearby chair, deciding to take a look at an elemental magic book that looked interesting.

The bathroom door closed and soon the sound of running water could be heard. As Lance jumped ahead to the chapter covering water magic he was feeling good. It genuinely felt like he was making progress with the princess.

After Fifteen dobashes Lance started to get suspicious. While he was no stranger to long showers, he also knew how water usually sounded when it was hit againsts body and that water that was running was not sounding right for someone supposedly taking a shower. Still, he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

When it had been a full varga since the water had been running, Lance knocked on the door.

“Pidge? You alright in there?”

When no response came Lance became certain something was up. Praying to the ancients that it wasn’t just that she hadn’t heard him, he opened the door and saw that Pidge was gone and had simply left the shower running. After calling her name a couple of times for good measure, he became certain she wasn’t there.

“Quiznak!” He cursed as turned off the shower.

He started pacing back and forth as he weighed up his options. He could go chasing after her but he had no idea where she was. Even if he found the hidden passageway Pidge had most likely used she still had a full varga head start meaning she could be anywhere in the castle and possibly not even in the castle at all.

His next impulse was to alert the guard to start a massive search but he decided against it. It was clear that Pidge could handle herself and alerting the guard would cause mass panic as the scramble to find her, not to mention get him fired for managing to lose her with the first varga. It ultimately became clear that best course of action was to wait for her to get back and then have a heart to heart how this bodyguard situation was supposed to work.

The question now was what he was going to do while he waited?

* * *

He combed through Pidges collection of books. As a princess she undoubtedly had access to books and resources Lance would never be allowed near normally, most of the books naturally focused on plant magic but there were a few books about elemental magic in general. One particular booked discussed harnessing the element even if you couldn’t see it. After reading through he was curious to try.

He found a cup on Pidges desk and filled it with.water. He placed the filled cup on the ground and sat down, closing his eyes. The trick he had done to cool the Juniberry juice had been literally childsplay to him. As in it was something he was mastered when he was a child.

While there was probably a complicated explanation for how it works, to him it was only a matter of thinking cold thoughts and then blowing. More complicated magic like creating ice or manipulating water was harder and had taken him longer to learn. What was particularly hard was manipulating water you couldn’t directly see or feel.

While he knew roughly where the cup was, the point of the exercise is to connect the with his element even if he couldn’t see or directly feel the element.

Keeping his eyes closed, he cleared his mind and tried to sense where the water was. His mind reached out, searching to make that connection with his element. Finally, when it felt like he had made the connection he took in a deep breath and held it as he tried to make the water completely still. When water becomes completely still it freezes. After a moment, Lance opened his eyes and saw that the water in the cup hadn’t frozen. Disappointed, Lance released the breath he had been holding. He then noticed he could actually see his breath and made a startling realisation. His aim had been off so rather than freeze the water in the cup he had instead been freezing water in the air around him.

* * *

Having sorted out Pidge’s vanity, tried a few of her products to see what would be for her and fiddled with some of her knick knacks, Lance had returned to reading when he heard the sound of the shower being turned back on, signifying Pidges return.

As he heard the door open, he welcomed her but as he turned the door suddenly slammed shut again. Deciding to get ready to do her makeup, Lance set himself up that the vanity.

“I wasn’t sure what your facial routine was so I tried out a couple. I’ve also heard some really good things about the Naquadian foundation, so I opened it up. Hope you don’t mind. It is excellent. I’ve been trying to hide this mole for years and it actually conceals it! I definitely recommend it. We can start with that and then I think the eyeliner would really bring out the gold in your eyes. They’re way too pretty to not get noticed.””

The door opened again and out stepped Pidge. Wearing the same dress she had worn when she had left.

“Same dress?” Lance asked, eyebrow raised. “Don’t you have like, a million of them?”

“I do not,” she said shortly, “and this happens to be my favorite so I want to wear it.”

He wanted to retort that he could clearly smell the forest and sweat on that dress but his ears picked up a strange buzzing sound that had certainly not been there before. Not wanting to alert whatever it was, he instead put on a smile as he led Pidge to the vanity seat.

“You’re the princess, I can work with this. Take a seat.”

He turned on the crystalline lights and searching for a cleansing wipes since the shower Pidge had taken had failed to remove the old makeup, all the while stealing quick glances to locate the source of the buzzing and pointedly ignoring the scowl Pidge was giving him.

“Yeah I know, you’ve obviously been doing it for a while considering how often you attend state events. I just enjoy doing this,” he said. He finally found a cleansing wipe and started with her forehead. “Cold showers are good for you after exercise, but you weren’t in there long enough to get your morning makeup off.”

He felt Pidge tense up. “I was in the shower the whole time.”

Lance managed to resist rolling his eyes. He couldn’t believe she was trying to play innocent but he kept his tone casual as he focused on finding the buzzing.

“Yeah that’s why you have day old foundation on and smell like the forest. Pidge, you live in a castle. It’s like a rule that there are secret passageways everywhere.”

“And you didn’t come after me?” Pidge sounded oddly surprised.

Lance threw the dirtied wipe in the trash receptacle and fished out a new one with his left hand as his right slowly sneaked towards his sheathed broadsword. He had located what was buzzing. At glance it looked like a spy drone.

“It didn’t sound like the water was hitting you in the shower so checked on you a varga later to make sure you weren’t dying. You were already gone. No idea where you went and didn’t want to send everyone into panic frantically looking for you. I figured I’d just wait until you came back. You’ve got plenty of cool stuff here to keep me occupied for a few hours.”

Without warning Lance stood up, drew his broadsword, and sliced through the air in one fluid motion, knocking his chair over in the process.

He hit his mark, slicing the drone cleanly in half. After sheathing the sword he picked up the pieces to show to Pidge.

Lance sheathed his sword and picked it up, holding it out in his palm to Pidge.

“If there’s a spy and they had found out you were out alone? It could have gotten ugly.”

“How did you notice?” Pidge asked. “I didn’t even hear it.”

“Grew up on a farm,” Lance explained. “I haven’t quite gotten used to the constant hum of machinery yet here in the city. It’s been buzzing around since you came out of the bathroom the second time.”

Hoping that act had least earned him some respect, Pidge seemed unimpressed. “I would have been fine.”

“Maybe. Whoever was listening knows you sneak out though. So the next time you go out, promise you’ll take me with you,” Lance pleaded. “It is my job.”

Surprisingly Pidge seemed to relent. “Only if you promise to let me practice my magic when we go out.”

That took Lance by surprise “Practice? You’re like perfect at it already why do you need to practice?”

“Because there is always room for improvement, just like technology. I need to become more precise, more powerful, learn the quirks of more plants,” she explained. “I have this gift and I have a responsibility to know it as well as I can. Some people don’t get that.”

“And that’s why you’ve gone through an entire regiment’s worth of bodyguards in the last three years?” Lance asked.

“Look, it’s nothing personal,” Pidge said. “I know Uncle just wants to make sure I’m safe, but I need to be able to take care of myself. What if something were to happen to you?”

“After today? Honestly, I’m relieved.” Lance said as he sat back down. He scooped up some cream and began to spread it over her face. “When Shiro selected me to serve as a bodyguard for the royal family I freaked out. I mean I love the idea, it’s a great way to become a hero, but the actual responsibility that I have? It’s terrifying. You Pidge? You’re really good with that plant magic. If I fail, you can save yourself.”

And Lance meant it. She wasn’t some helpless damsel, she clearly had power. Still no one was infallible and if nothing else he offered her and extra set of eyes. He could only hope she would let him help her.

“Besides your room is amazing! You have top of the line facial cream,” he rambled, putting some of said cream on his own face. “I’ll get to go to all the royal functions.” He gasped. “I’ll get to see Princess Allura. Is she as beautiful as everyone says she is?”

As he finished Pidge’s make up, he noticed she had gone back to scowling at him. Still, they finished getting ready and Lance was able to successfully escort Pidge to the supper. Lance had been pleased to learn that the rumours of Allura’s beauty were true but he, unfortunately, did not have the opportunity to introduce himself to her. Still, as Pidge’s bodyguard, he knew he’d get the chance to do it later.

After the supper, Lance and Pidge approached Shiro and showed him the damaged drone. While Pidge had wanted to keep the drone and figure out where it had come herself, Lance had pointed out that there could be more of them flying around the castle so Shiro needed to know about this. After getting a guarantee from Shiro that he would look into it but also give Pidge a chance to examine the drone once he was done with it, Pidge let Lance escort her back to her room.

“Well Pidge, I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep well.”

Lance started to walk away when Pidge called out to him.

As he turned, he saw a prickly poltae flying straight at him. On instinct, Lance unsheathed his broadsword and sliced the poltae in two. Once done he looked up at Pidge in dismay.

“Why?!”

Pidge shrugged. “I wanted to make sure the drone thing wasn’t a fluke. I can’t have a bodyguard with shoddy reflexes. Good night.”

She then closed the door, leaving Lance wondering he had gotten himself into.


	3. Elements

Pidge clicked her tongue. It kept her mind firmly on the task at hand, even if it wasn’t perfectly on beat. Her writing desk, as it was meant to be used for, was filled with small parts from an assortment of mechanical makes and models.

The piece that currently held her attention was the small drone that her bodyguard had cut down a week prior in this very room. When whole, it was just larger than her thumb. Sliced in half as it was, made the innards more accessible but no less difficult to work with.

Who made it? Who sent it? What was its purpose? Did it transmit data remotely or did it have to be retrieved in person?

Pidge hadn’t been given the time to work on answering those questions until now. Shiro and his guards actively searched for more of its kind and while she would have loved nothing more than to help, she begrudgingly admitted to having other duties. Now that she had kept a bodyguard for a week with little complaint, she could no longer deny him to assist in those tasks on her behalf.

At least cousin Allura acted grateful. She ate up Pidge’s increased company like chilled junniberry cream.

And there was much to do. With King Alfor gone on diplomatic excursions, the planet was often left in Allura’s capable hands.

Not that she felt so half the time. It was not hard for Pidge to pick up on how much Allura appreciated the presence of all her cousins, in even the most regular of engagements.

Between assisting the crown princess and the unfamiliar feeling of the same guard watching her back at nearly all times, she hadn’t had much of a moment to herself.

Since he was going nowhere, introducing Lance to her forest sanctuary had happened quickly. That very next morning, following an unfortunate misunderstanding between Pidge’s breakfast and Lance’s uniform, they’d gone out to allow the bodyguard to familiarize himself with the area.

He thought it was beautiful.

Pidge bit her lip. She was getting attached. She wanted nothing more than to be able to wipe away the smug look Shiro sent her way whenever they crossed paths, an occurrence that happened far too often.

‘How’s Lance?’ He would ask.

‘Ask him, he reports to you,’ she would challenge back.

‘I’m on need to know status’ he grinned. ‘He spends all his time with you. All his knowledge and skills are yours.’

Pidge tapped her stylus with increasing intensity on the desk, her eyes zeroed in on a tiny chip that lay in the heart of the drone between the myriad of black, green, and grey wires. She opened her palm towards a potted fern growing in the corner. By her request, it was more than happy to extend a stray stem and turn on a fan.

“Thanks,” she told it.

She hadn’t noticed how warm her room had become. It wasn’t even midday. Unusual.

Undeterred, Pidge continued to poke at the drone. She had bought herself at least an hour to work on solving the mysteries behind it by sending Lance on a few needless errands. Not that he knew that of course. He seemed all too happy to bring a few dresses down to laundry so Pidge hadn’t bothered to outright tell him of her real need for some privacy.

She wouldn’t be able to work with him chattering on about literally whatever was came to his mind.

Pidge liked silence to concentrate. Lance needed background noise, even if he was the one who had to provide it. The worst part was that she was starting to like it. He wasn’t a scientist like her immediate family, and he wouldn’t purposefully talk about planetary politics like Allura. Lance liked to talk about his family, his daily life, and her cosmetics. After that he’d bombard her with questions. Somehow even with a week of being in each other’s constant presence, he still hadn’t run out of things to ask about her life, hobbies, and family. It was oddly refreshing, to be able to take part in conversation that wasn’t the usual. But if she was going to make any headway on unlocking the secrets behind the drone, he couldn’t be around.

Oh? What was this? She carefully moved a clump of wires out of the way. She could now see a bright magenta light more clearly, blinking in time with a ticker than her absent minded clicking.

She went to poke it with her stylus, but as soon as she shifted it, the wires were once again in her way. Pidge attempted the same with her finger, but fell into the same problem.

Pidge huffed.

“I need a little help, friend.” She abandoned the drone for the moment and closed her eyes. A yellow-green light formed between her palms and she could feel the magical green tattoo appear on her arms, both outward indicators of the magic that flowed through her veins.

She faced a pot filled with a small bouquet of junniberry flowers. It sat on the windowsill just out of her arms reach.

The pink petals shivered at the newfound energy given to them. By her unspoken request, the yellow stamen elongated. Pidge opened her eyes in time to observe two of them parting the wires and the third putting pressure on the blinking light. The light dimmed until it was no more.

Pidge grimaced. “That answered nothing,” she groaned. Was it a power source? How was it still going when the device was cut in half? Could the owner hear everything still hear everything? Was it a timer? Was it a homing signal? Could an assassin appear at any time? What if -

The door slammed opened without warning.

Pidge shifted her magic focus to one of the many poltae seeds she kept in a pouch, a defiant expression across her features. She stood up to face the intruder, throwing the seed like a laser.

A screech that didn’t belong to her filled the silent void.

It wasn’t until after she’d completed her attack and was about to demand an explanation, that she realized the entire exercise had been pointless.

Lance was the one who stood in the doorway. His face twisted in pain, tears just barely prickling in his eyes. He bit his lip, and groaned in agony. In one hand he precariously held a tray of tea and cookies. He slowly opened his other hand to show he’d remarkably caught the seed bare handed and on purpose.

“Ow-ouuuuch,” he moaned, setting the tray down on a nearby table before going down on his knees and clutching his injured hand with the other. “That one was a little much don’t you think?!” He now glared at her accusingly, testing the mobility of the injured hand.

Pidge let the magic fade and lowered her arms. She felt awfully embarrassed, confirmed by the flush in her cheeks. I should apologize, she thought. What came out of her mouth was something completely different.

“I thought you were an assassin,” she said truthfully. “You should knock before you come in. What if I was changing?”

Lance gaped at her, incredulous. “You thought I was what?! Why?”

“I just disabled a part of the drone that was still active,” she reported. “If its a remote like I think it is, then whoever is on the other end has been listening to every conversation. They know we know. They know the guards know. And with all the talking we’ve done for it, I’m sure they have enough of our voices to fake our audio.”

Lance frowned, duty quickly taking precedence over his fading pain. He stood and closed the door so that what was said next would not reach the hallways. “What do you think they’re after? Was it meant for you, or someone else? Or the castle security in general?”

Pidge sighed. She sat down at her desk and motioned for Lance to take a seat as well. He placed the offending seed on the tray he’d brought with him and brought the entire ensemble to her. “I brought tea. You said you liked herbal, right?”

Pidge felt the her cheeks warm again. She barely remembered saying so in passing during a dinner conversation with Allura. She thought Lance had been too enamored with her cousin to notice. But it seemed he’d been listening to her the entire time.

Her heart beat just a bit faster at just the thought. Why was she so taken with thought of Lance paying attention to her. It was literally his job!

No, it was his job to protect her from harm. He didn’t have to listen to her or wait on her like this.

“I didn’t ask you to bring me tea,” she finally decided to say - as neutrality as possible.

Lance broke into a wide grin, reminiscent of when they’d been first introduced. “Well, laundry is going to take a while, and you didn’t have much for breakfast. I thought you could use a snack.” He set one of the cups down on one of the few empty spaces on the desk and poured some of the tea into it. “I made it myself,” he said smugly once finished.

Pidge feigned an unimpressed look at his pride. She could almost see the imaginary sparkles dancing around his face.

Pidge melted into a small smile regardless. It was a kind gesture. “Thanks Lance, this is really nice,” she said. “I’m sorry I attacked you.”

“No need to apologize,” Lance replied with a dismissive wave. “If I can’t handle little things like that, how am I to protect you when I actually need to?” He frowned, deflating instantly and turning his gaze to the broken drone. “Especially with the possibility looking us in the face.”

“Which still hasn’t given up its secrets, but that is only a matter of time.” Pidge pondered her next move concerning the drone and took a sip of tea.

She gagged and spit it out, soiling Lance’s uniform in the process. He yelped in indignation. “You make terrible tea,” she managed to get out.

Lance’s eyes widened and poured himself a cup, taking a quick drink. His eyes bulged, but he at least managed to swallow. “I don’t understand, I followed the directions exactly,” he emphasized.

“The flavor is fine,” Pidge explained once she’d shivered from the odd taste on her tongue. “It just tastes off because it’s cold.”

“But I made it hot, I know I did,” Lance protested. “How can it get this cold when I literally just came from the kitchen? That’s - “ Lance stopped himself mid sentence, a carefully blank expression on his face. “Here, I know for sure the cookies are good. I didn’t touch them. Hunk did everything.”

Pidge took the blue colored cookie and sunk her teeth into it right away, choosing to ignore the abrupt change of thought from Lance. She moaned in delight as it melted in her mouth, the perfect combination of sweet and chewy. It held together after each bite, ensuring that not a single crumb was lost.

Hunk never disappointed. Pidge had quickly discovered that among Lance’s many surprising uses, one was an inside track to rare prepared snacks from the most well regarded cook on Altea. The two had been good friends from their early academy days and, before taking separate career paths, had been joined at the hip. Lance took great pleasure in being able to see Hunk on a daily basis again, the two picking up again as if they’d never been apart.

Cooking wasn’t even his day job. He usually worked on maintaining the Castle’s many intricate systems. A batch of baked goods from him was a coveted treat.

“It’s delicious,” she finally said. “How does he do it?”

Lance shrugged, but his expression showed he was clearly proud of his friend. “Not everyone can be a genius I guess. Hunk has knowhow with cooking. You’re both good with tech, and you’ve got your magic.”

Pidge was used to praise. From her family it was easy to accept, she and her brother had been encouraged by their parents since they were small. Other nobles and Castle workers showed their awe by avoiding her, intimidated by her intelligence, station, and magical proficiency. She’d stiffened and carried on, unsure as to how to approach others and break their misconception of her. Pidge decided to take it as a compliment and ignore it. It had left her with few friends.

Hearing the affirmation from Lance stirred something within her. This time she knew it wasn’t the room getting warmer.

He made himself far too easy to like.

“Uh yeah, I suppose,” she responded lamely.

A faint buzz in her ear was the only warning she had before a familiar voice came through on her communicator.

“Pidge,” Shiro said, “is Lance with you right now? He’s not responding my calls.”

Pidge opened her mouth, but stopped short of speaking as Lance furiously shook his head. She didn’t need to read his lips ‘I’m not here!’ to get the message.

She should tell Shiro. But this was one mystery she could get the answer to now. Her curiosity got the best of her.

“No, sorry Shiro,” she finally replied. Her green earrings lighting up as she spoke and her gaze was cautiously curious towards Lance. “I’m in my room. I sent him out to do a couple things for me. He’s not back yet.”

“Alright, thanks. When he does get back, send him to my office please?”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks again, Pidge. I’ll see you later tonight.”

Pidge waited until the communication cut off before speaking, but Lance beat her to it. He stood, taking her hand in the process.

“We need to go. You haven’t been to the forest to practice your magic in a few days, right? Time for some fresh air!” He turned around, headed towards the tunnel in her bathroom that he was now familiar with.

“Hold up. Not before you tell me what’s going on first.”

Lance sighed heavily, shoulders slumped in defeat. “I… might have made a mistake with the Trayling twins.”

Pidge’s eyes widened. “What did you do?” she asked slowly..

“I told Estelle I enjoyed our date a while back,” he confessed.

“Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.”

“I went on that date with Felice.”

“You didn’t,” Pidge breathed, sucking in a gasp. “Shiro should know that they’re going to kill you.”

The twins wouldn’t actually kill him, at least Pidge didn’t think so. The two were nice enough most of the time, but were ship captains in their own right for a reason. They were not to be double crossed.

“So, forest? Just for a few hours until their ships leave orbit,” Lance suggested hopefully. Begging.

Pidge was never going to turn down magic practice. She grinned. It was also refreshing to hear her bodyguard suggest it, regardless of intent.

The drone questions would need to be solved another day. It was time to get stronger.

“Why not? Your uniform’s already dirty. What’s a few more grass stains?” she said, smirking in his direction.

Neither noticed two pairs of tiny eyes watch them leave.

~~~

It didn’t take long to forget why he was out here. Or to accumulate plenty of grass stains.

He gathered his hurried pants under control for the fifth time since they’d arrived in Pidge’s chosen spot in the forest. In one more calming breath he lifted his sword upright, ceremoniously holding the hilt at abdomen level as typical of an honor guard. The tip of the sword reached above his head and he made sure one edge of the blade faced him, and the other faced away, ready to defend. It was a pose that purposely brought attention to the double edge of the sword. While powerful, if not handled correctly, would expose the wielder to danger.

The stance was that of respect when starting a sparring session or duel. A similar posture was used to stand on ceremony for royalty, Lance would just have to turn his sword a quarter of a circle so that the broader blunt area faced outwards.

Fitting then, since he was in what amounted to a practice duel with a member of the royal family.

Lance tilted his head to watch Pidge out of the corner of his eye with a fond smile. They stood back to back in preparation for the next round, but he didn’t need to see her face to know how happy she was.

Leaves danced in the air in front of her energetically, reflecting her mood. He didn’t have to think much to imagine the smile of pure joy on her face that she reserved just for playing with the plant magic. It made him inexplicably happy to see her happy. There was pride in his assignment, sure, but he was also a people person by nature. He thrived off the happiness of others, especially if he was a part of it.

He lost track of time observing her. The way Pidge bade the plants move was mesmerizing. One moment leaves were their normally flimsy selves, floating in a gentle breeze, the next they were as sharp as knives and cut through the air decisively. He wondered if he would ever get to a point when using his own magic would look that beautiful.

If I can ever get my freezing under control and handle more than a glass of water, he thought bitterly.

He should tell her, really. It was his duty to know everything about her, and it would benefit that she knew everything about him, including the fact that he had magic of his own. It was still imperfect though, and he still feared his family would be looked down upon for not sending him to study alchemy.

He sighed lightly. He was the bodyguard of a princess now. Surely that made up for having one less alchemist on Altea?

The leaves Pidge orchestrated now formed a sphere, and then a heart, then back to a pyramid. It was difficult not to stare. It was his job, though, he rationalized. The thought prompted him to quickly scan their surroundings.

The spot was perfect for Pidge and her plant magic. Thick vegetation from bushes to trees to grass covered them on nearly all sides. Off to his left the foliage opened enough to see the shimmering waters of Lake Altea. It was a lake that Lance had fond memories of from even before joining the Castle guard. He’d spent long days on the many blue sand beaches around it and diving with the wildlife that lived in it.

It helped alleviate some of the homesickness that still pained him every so often.

As suitable for a lake named after the planet, it was large enough that they had miles of separation from the Castle. Between that and the dense woods, Lance was keenly aware of how potentially dangerous it was to be out here with Pidge. A villager may not warrant attention, but a regally dressed soldier with a princess? Altea was a generally safe planet, the wildlife being more dangerous than anything. The drone wasn’t controlled by an animal though and it weighed on his mind.

Was he doing the right thing taking Pidge out here? Letting her put a target on her back? Literally any other sane guard wouldn’t be here, least of all for selfish reasons. She could clearly take care of herself, as she’d proven when they’d first met. But they’d yet to come across any real threat to either of their lives. How good were either of them, really?

He tightened the grip on the hilt of his sword. Shiro and Pidge both trusted him to do things his way, that was why he was still here. He wasn’t about to let them down, no matter what. That meant practice himself.

He side eyed Pidge again, smile turning into a smirk. “Ready for the next round, Princess?” He taunted.

Pidge tilted her head towards him, a sly smile on her own face. The leaves she’d been playing with while waiting for Lance to catch his breath now came into an arrowhead formation. “You’re just asking to get beaten again if you keep calling me ‘princess’.”

“Not this time,” Lance shot back. “I’ve got you figured out now.”

“Oh really?” Pidge said, eyebrows arched. “On three then.”

Lance shifted his stance, less rigid and ready to take on an opponent. “One,” he said.

Pidge called up a dark green vine. It twitched in anticipation. “Two,” she continued.

“Three!” they said at the same time.

They turned to face each other. Vine and sword clashed, the reverberation scattering nearby fallen leaves in all directions.

Lance grunted as he held back the vine with all his strength, putting his entire body weight into his sword’s forward momentum. He smirked as they reached a stalemate. “I’ve definitely got you this time.”

While not exerting physical energy, tiny beads of sweat still appeared on Pidge’s temples. Her fingers drummed against air in annoyance. The ball of light between her palms that outwardly focused her magic flickered under strain. “Not a chance.” She pushed her arms forward and the vine continued to press against his sword. “Luxenwyrm is harder than some of the Castle walls. Your sword isn’t going to be able to cut it. Stop trying, you’ll lose again.”

“Who said that’s what I was trying to do?” That as his only warning, Lance twisted his sword around the vine twice and then using his weapon as a needle to tie the vine into a knott. He drove the sword into the ground, trapping the plant. He then walked over and gave his befuddled charge a pat on the shoulder.

Pidge deflated but did not protest the contact. She lowered her arms, letting the magic fade back into her body. “That wasn’t fair,” she complained. “That defeats the point of training doesn’t it?”

“Hey, you’re not the only one who can get creative fighting,” he said as he backed away. “If you want to lift people upside down, I can make a twist out of your plants.”

Pidge crossed her arms while Lance pulled his sword out of the ground. “Fine. I’ll give you the one.”

“I would have had two more if you hadn’t tripped me with roots,” he said sorely, turning to her and untangling the vines from his weapon.

“Creativity,” she countered back with a smirk. Lance felt the edges of his mouth twitch. This was fun. He wasn’t sure what he had expected in being the bodyguard of a princess, but he liked this. It felt more and more like being with a friend.

“Ready for another round?” she asked.

“I think my uniform has taken enough of a beating for one day,” Lance said dramatically. “We should be headed back to the Castle soon,” he continued more seriously. “Didn’t you have a dinner tonight?”

Pidge scowled. “Nothing I particularly want to go to, but you’re right.” She paused, a crinkle across her brow in thought. “I want to speak with the Elder Tree once before we go.”

Lance felt his stomach do a little flip. The oldest tree in the forest was only a few yards back into the forest from where they stood, but Pidge had carefully avoided any plant life connected to it. “Will it listen to you this time? I can only handle being turned upside down so many times in a day. I don’t have as delicate a stomach as Hunk, but I have my limits.” The last time Lance had ended up stuck above the forest canopy.

“I have to keep trying. If I can be on good terms with the Elder Tree, the rest of the forest will be a cinch,” Pidge said, a determined look on her face.

Lance breathed in deep and let it out with a calming sigh. “You’re the princess.” He gave her a bright smile for confidence. “If I were a tree, I’d certainly let you use my limbs.”

It was only after seeing Pidge’s flushed face that he realized that might have not come out the right way. “I mean, you’re a nice person, and super smart. The Elder has to see that.”

“I flipped you upside down when we first met,” she said dryly. Her voice was just a pitch higher than usual. “I also legitimately attacked you this morning. Most would say I’m not very nice.”

“Well sure, but I’m your bodyguard. I can’t get complacent.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “You want me to keep throwing things at you?”

Lance looked down at his palm. It was still a bit red and pulsed with pain when he gripped his sword a little too tight. “Maybe things that are a little less painful,” he admitted.

“That’s fair.” She turned in the direction that would take her further into the forest. “I used to tell my bodyguards to leave me alone no matter what. I’m going to push it this time, and trust you’ll stop me if things get out of hand.”

“You’re really serious about this,” Lance said, letting the implications soak in. For all her talk of not needing a bodyguard, the request seemed too foreign. It was as if she expected to get hurt. “I’m all for you practicing, but there’s no need to push anything. Not at your own expense.”

Pidge curled her hands into fists. “This is something I need to do, Lance. At least someday soon. The Elder Tree is connected spiritually to the rest of the forest. If,” she stressed, “if something were to happen to Altea, partnering with it would be my most powerful counterattack.”

“The drone really has you worried.” Lance stole a look at the Castle, barely visible from across the lake and through the tree branches.

“Yes,” she confirmed. She turned her head to look directly at him. “Can I trust you to have my back, Lance?”

She likely just meant during her attempt to communicate with the Elder Tree, Lance realized. He gave her a soft smile. “Of course. I vowed to protect you with my life if need be. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll have your back.”

Pidge turned her face before he could see her reaction. “Thank you,” she said. She disappeared into the trees.

Lance took a breath to psych himself up. He then followed her into the woods.

~~~~~

Pidge stared up at the Elder Tree. The knots and lower branches were all a familiar sight by now.

She closed her eyes as she approached, pressing a palm against the rough bark. "Please", she whispered. Her brow scrunching together more and more as moments passed. _I need to get stronger. I need to show Lance he doesn’t have to worry about me. I don’t want him to turn into the other guards. He’s been a better friend than I deserve._

_No_

Her eyes flew open in surprise. This was the first time she’d heard such a clear response from a plant. Usually they did not speak, but rather shared emotions to converse with her.

 _Please_ , she begged again. She poured her heart out and tears pricked at her eyes. _Please allow me to use just a leaf, anything._

Instead of the verbal answer Pidge was met with obstinatance. She felt a wall up between them. It was a feeling she wasn’t used to. Plants were always happy to exchange their services for the additional power she offered them.

Light footfalls from behind increased her urgency.

“Pidge, you’re doing it! There’s a root headed my way!”

The wall was still there. She was not controlling that root. “Lance, that’s not me! Look out!”

She watched in horror as the root slithered directly towards him. Not thinking her actions through, she directed her will on the first plant in the area that would listen. The pocket of temmern grew rapidly and lifted Lance up off of his feet. He landed on the soft cap, holding on for his own dear life. The root passed harmlessly and continued on towards Lake Altea.

“What are you doing?” Pidge demanded of the Elder Tree. “You almost hurt him!”

“Um, Pidge?”

“Not now, Lance. I really need to concentrate. This is going to take everything I have.” She set her hand back up against the bark.

“This is a bit urgent!” His voice sounded further away this time.

Pidge whirled around and found the temmern was carrying Lance away towards the lake. The gills were curled up so that he could not jump down.

“No!” she screamed, eyes wide with fear. She’d never lost control of a plant before. She reached out to the fungus once more only to find a literal wall, this time made of thorny bushes. It was all connected to the Elder Tree.

Furious, she turned her attention to the offending plant. Magic flowed through her, concentrating in the space between her palms. “Let him go, I’m the one who is asking for a partnership. He doesn’t have anything to do with it!”

Muffled through the magical wall, the response was sternness and confidence. That Pidge was wrong and she wasn’t doing something correctly.

“I’ll learn, I promise I will, just let Lance go.”

 _No_.

“Yes!” She placed both hands on the tree bark. She was met with seething anger.

~~~~~~

Lance found himself unceremoniously deposited on the beach. Rolling awkwardly twice, he immediately righted himself. Panic slowed him from finding a decent grip on the loose sand beneath him. Before he could stand he heard her scream.

“Pidge!” He yelled back in horror. He was failing. He was supposed to be there instead of her. Why was today different than any other day she’d tried this?

Tree branches cracked and Lance did not have time to think as he saw Pidge’s limp body flying across the beach and out towards open water. He didn’t know what he screamed, whether it was a word of defiance or her name or title. He only tried to reach her. He physically would never be able to, she was too high in the air. A part of his brain told him to start swimming so he could reach her faster when she landed.

Instead he reached out with his arms and felt the familiar coolness of his own magic flow into his arms. He felt more connected to the water than ever before. The entire lake seemed a playground. The waves themselves crashed through his veins.

Don’t let Pidge drown, was all he asked. The one thought consumed his mind.

The water responded to what Lance truly wanted; for Pidge to be safe onshore.

A wave rose up above the others, defying logic and wrapping itself around Pidge like a blanket. It set her down upon the beach and crashed onto shore, once again relenting to physics.

Lance shivered, her mind numb. That had been far too close for comfort, but Pidge was safe. She coughed, spitting some of the water out that had accidentally drank. She looked his way, and gasped. He had never seen her so surprised before.

It was then he realized the outward manifestation of his magic still lingered. A pale blue ball of light ahead of his palm shrunk before fading out of existence. The blue markings on his arms did the same.

“You…you have magic too,” Pidge finally stated. For a normally prideful scientist, she spoke with uncertainty. “You saved me.”

“That’s my job,” he said automatically. “Are you hurt?” Calming, he found the strength to stand. Stepping over the Elder Tree’s root, he went to kneel beside her.

“Nothing serious, just my pride,” she admitted with a downcast face. “I don’t understand why the Elder Tree was so against working with me. None of the other plants seem to mind. Most relish it.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re alright. I feel like I dodged a laser. The Trayling twins would have been the least of my worries,” Lance said as he dropped to a more relaxed sitting position.

“I will worry about my problems another time. I’m more interested in you right now.” Pidge gave him a pointed glare. “You have magic. This changes everything.”

“It…does?” Lance asked tentatively. We waited on her response with baited breath.

“It explains why your tea was terrible. Water magic has a freezing component by default. It was probably sneaking through since you’re untrained.”

Lance twitched. She was very quickly recovering and analyzing his situation a little too well. “I have been training myself.”

Pidge’s eyes lit up. “So you knew about this. That makes sense. I’d been wondering why you were so interested in my elemental books. And it explains my room freezing too. We’re going to have to fix that. I’m not letting my room freeze every day just because you can’t control your magic.”

“So, you’re not mad at me for not telling you? That I’m a guard and not an alchemist?”

Pidge made a show of considering. “Maybe a little, but that would mean you wouldn’t be with me now.” She smirked. “All of that pales in comparison to being able to study you now. Congratulations Lance. You’ve been promoted from bodyguard to experiment.”

Lance froze, shivers rippling over his body. “What?! Hey, I’m no lab rat!”

“Fine, if case study works better for you, we can call it that.”

“That is not any better!”

“I’m going to teach you magic,” Pidge said with finality, crossing her arms. “The fact that you could be a sacred Altean has been bothering me for a while, and you having magical abilities is the first thing that’s really made sense about you. Besides, anyone who tries to self teach has a deep desire to learn. I know this is your job but, let me thank you this way.”

Her soft, fond smile directed towards him, for him only, made his heart flutter without his permission. Despite Pidge being completely soaked, he could feel the warmth and genuine thankfulness she radiated.

He did his best to emulate the look on her face. “I’d be honored for you to teach me, Princess. I - “

Before Lance could finish his more heartfelt thought, a low moan filled the air and interrupted him. He knew that sound. He broke out into a huge grin and stood facing the water. Today was getting better and better. He and Pidge had bonded more, she knew his secret magical abilities and was going to teach him, and now he was about to be reunited with an old friend.

It had been too many long months, but that only made him smile wider.

A lump of greys, blues, and greens surfaced above the water in front of them. Tentacles that looked like a head of hair wiggled with excitement as it approached. Tusks as big as Lance himself lay on either side of its mouth. A roar allowed the creature to show of its large, sharp teeth.

Pidge took several steps back. “Is…is that the Gombash?” her voice was mixed with both fascination and fear. “What is it doing here?”

The Gombash was one of the most dangerous creatures on Altea. While it always remained close to its lake home, it would normally not bother beach goers. It’s primary diet consisted of the many types of seaweed and algae that grew in the lake. The Alteans had come to see it as a guardian, after generations of stories of invaders trying to take the capital, but crushed single handedly by the creature that lived in the lake.

It’s legend was corroborated by it’s terrifying appearance and powerful offensive magic. The beam cannon on board the Castle had been designed after its breath attack. The same creature now continued to head straight for them. It’s giant tusks cutting across the waves like a knife.

“Lance, maybe we should go?” Pidge suggested. “I’ve never seen the Gombash act like this.”

“Naw it’s okay. Gommy and I are best buds,” he told her confidently.

“Gommy?!”

Lance’s assurance was the only reason Pidge did not take up a bundle of nearby weeds for a weapon when a tentacle from the Gombash’s head reached out and curled around the whole of his body. Almost immediately after contact, teal markings began to glow on the appendage.

The Gombash made landfall. It towered over the trees, but instead of further intimidating the two Alteans, it sat on its hind legs and the lay its head on the sandy beach. Teal markings all across its body lit up as it nuzzled Lance from his captive position.

“Yeah, I’m happy to see you too, Gommy,” Lance said, a tad bit winded from the sudden embrace. “It’s been too long since I last had a free swim to see you.” He did his best to pet the creature, but was difficult with his arms taught against his chest.

The Gombash trilled happily from the positive response. More than that, Lance felt its joy from seeing him again.

The Gombash was an empath after all.

“Lance! Are you okay?” Pidge yelled from her position on the beach. Her face was concerned, but he was glad she was showing caution.

The feeling of inquiry filled his mind and he smiled. “I’m fine!” He told Pidge. “Gommy and I met during basic training! He does this whenever we meet so we can talk!” He turned back to the creature. “This is Pidge, she’s a princess. I’m working as her bodyguard now.”

Understanding and… realization? Lance wasn’t sure what that meant.

The Gombash reached out with yet another tentacle. It paused, rotating in the air around Pidge as if checking her out.

“Lance… what is it doing?” She said cautiously, watching its every move.

“Gommy’s curious. It takes a while for him to get used to new people. It’s way nicer than that tree!”

Pidge didn’t get to choose in the end. The appendage wrapped around her legs and brought her up close to it’s face. The teal markings shone bright around her as the Gombash sniffed her and read her emotions.

“Aww, you’re not so bad. You’re even pretty cute,” Pidge admitted with an endearing smile. She dared a light rub on the Gombash’s muzzle.

Delight, relief, and accomplishment filled Lance all at once. He chuckled, glad that Pidge had Gommy’s seal of approval.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted yet another limb reaching out for a large root he hadn’t remembered being there before. The burgundy and yellow appendage was tipped into the lake and led back into the forest.

The Elder Tree, he realized in shock. The stupid tree that had almost gotten them both seriously injured had asked Gommy to be here. That’s why it had come so fast.

Because if anything in the universe that could detect any shred of ill intent, it was the Gombash.

The entire quiznaking thing was a test. One that, based on the giant lick Gommy had just given Pidge, she had passed.

“Pidge!” He yelled. “Look behind you! The tree gave you what you wanted!”

“What? Lance I can’t hear you! Your friend’s slobber is as thick as food goo! GAH!”

Gommy had flipped Pidge upside down and curiosity became the main emotion Lance felt. Pidge did her very best to keep her dress from folding over her face, an embarrassed blush stuck to her face. “Let me down!”

“I’m happy to see you too, Buddy, but Pidge isn’t quite used to you ye - “

Endearment. The Gombash snuggled Lance a little closer, his cheeks squishing up against the creature.

“Alright I promise we’ll visit more often. This is our favorite spot after all,” he said, more than happy to assign Pidge’s practice area to himself as well.

Pidge was growing stronger yet with her newest plant ally, assuming it didn’t ask any more of her. Lance was looking forward to seeing what her full potential would someday look like.

Because he would definitely be right by her side through all of it, bodyguard or not.

Back at the tree line, two mice witnessed the whole scene with intelligent eyes. They chattered to each other before running off in the direction of the Castle.

Oh boy did they have some fresh gossip to share.


	4. Secret

Lance and Pidge fortunately arrived back at Pidges room with enough time to get cleaned and ready for the dinner. Lance, having learned from previous training sessions in the forest, had a spare uniform in Pidge’s room. He changed while Pidge had a quick shower and sent word to the kitchen asking for a fresh of herbal to be sent up.

Pidge soon stepped out of the shower, clean and in a new dress, to find Lance waiting at the vanity for her. “So shall we get started?”

“Yes, lets.” Pidge placed a cup filled with water in front of Lance. “Show me what you can do.”

“Now?” Lance asked in dismay. “Shouldn’t we be getting ready for the dinner?”

“We still have a varga and a half,” Pidge replied. “And if I’m going to teach you I need to know what I’m working with.”

Realising Pidge was not going to budge on this matter, Lance decided to comply to her demands. He pointed his open palms towards the cup. His markings started to glow as he focused his energy. The water started to lift up out of the cup as if the gravity had been turned off. The water floated a foot above the cup. As the water floated it started shifting into various shapes. First a sphere, then a cube, then a pyramid and finally a love heart. The heart then froze solid as it floated over to Pidge.

Pidge’s cheeks felt slightly warm as she took hold of the heart.

“I haven’t yet gotten the hang of changing ice back into water,” Lance explained. “Also I usually start having trouble when it’s much more than two cups worth of water.”

“Honestly, that’s far better than what I had expected,” Pidge replied.

At that, the heart broke into several pieces.

“What I mean, this is really good for someone with no formal training,” she quickly amended.

“Thank you.”

“But I have to ask, why keep it secret?”

Lance pursed his lips, he knew that he could probably say that it was private but if Pidge was going to teach him, the least he could do is give her an explanation.

“When my magic revealed itself, I was a young kid living on a farm,” Lance explained. “There was no one nearby that would have been able to teach me.”

“There are crown subsidised boarding schools all over the planet. You could have been sent to one of those.”

“I was young and didn’t want to leave my home, my friends or my family. So I lied about it.”

“And you’re parents were alright with that?”

“My parents didn’t know. They still don’t actually,” Lance answered. “I knew they would insist on sending me to one of the schools if they knew. I’m not saying my thinking was rational but at the time it seemed like a good idea.”

“But why keep it secret now?”

“The problem with a lie like this is that it snowballs. Even when I realised that I wanted to learn how to control these abilities, it would involve admitting to having them in the first place. Can you imagine the backlash that could have on my standing? And what if people thought my parents had known and they were the ones that stopped me from learning how to control it. There is no way I’m going to let them suffer for my decision.”

That unfortunately made sense for Pidge. One of the highest ideals in the Altean culture is the ideal that one’s abilities must be developed and harnessed for the betterment of Altea as a whole. Failing to use or develop one’s talents without due cause could lead to ridicule or ostracisation. Willingly preventing others from developing their talent was considered unforgivable.

Though understandable or not, Pidge wondered if Lance was aware of just how big a mess he had made for himself. To become a guard Lance would have had to go through applications, interviews and aptitude tests. At some point he would have been asked about having magic or not. The only way he could have gotten through all of that with his secret intact would have been if he outright lied about it. Not only was what Lance did a social taboo, it was potentially illegal.

“So what exactly was the plan here?” Pidge asked. “Keep your magic a secret for the rest of your life?”

“No, just long enough that when it does get out people would either assume I had had the proper training or simply not care.”

“And how long did you think that would take?”

“I didn’t say it was the most thought out plan,” Lance admitted.

Pidge didn’t think what Lance had could even be considered a plan at all.

“So does anyone else know?”

“Hunk does.”

“Oh, that makes sense I guess,” Pidge didn’t know why but she felt slightly disappointed that she wasn’t the first person Lance had let in on his secret. She promptly squashed that feeling by reminding herself that there were more pressing things to focus on. “So how do you want to do it?”

“Do what?”

“Telling the others. It’s not like we can keep this a secret.”

“We can’t?”

“Seriously? This isn’t hiding you from Shiro for a few hours to avoid the twins. This is a major secret you expect me to keep from everyone, including my own family.”

“I’ve been keeping this secret from my family for years. Trust me, it gets easier.”

“What if lives are on the line and the only thing that can save them is your powers. What then?”

Lances expression darkened.

“Pidge, the only reason you know about my magic is because I used it to save you. Could you maybe have a little faith in my dedication to doing my duty?”

Pidge bit her lip, realising how bad that had sounded.

“Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

Lance sighed.

“Look Pidge, I’m not going to force you to keep this a secret,” she said. “If you feel this needs to be made public then I’ll trust your judgement.”

Pidge paused, she had honestly expected Lance to beg her to keep his abilities a secret. The rational side of her wanted to rock up to Shiro, tell him what she knew and be done with it. Like Lance had said, this was the sort of secret that snowballs so the less time she sat on it the better.

Yet she was reluctant. She was genuinely excited to teach Lance and see how he would develop. She also really didn’t want to be forced to get a new guard. She was really starting to like Lance…as her bodyguard. Pidge honestly didn’t know what would happen if Alfor and Shiro found out.

Maybe Lance would be convicted.

Maybe Shiro would kick Lance off the royal guard.

Maybe Lance wouldn’t be allowed to protect her until he had received that proper training.

Maybe she would be allowed to teach him but get shackled with a new bodyguard.

Maybe Alfor and Shiro won’t care and nothing happens.

The real question was whether or not Pidge was really ready to roll the dice on this.

“Eventually we’ll need to come clean,” Pidge finally said. “But it doesn’t have to be now. Let’s see how we do with teaching you and if we need to tell other people, we will.”

Lance nodded gratefully.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet. This means that you’re stuck with me as your teacher.”

Lance bowed with a flourish. “I have absolute faith in your abilities as a teacher.”

Any reply Pidge was going to give was interrupted by a knock at the door. Lance opened it to reveal a servant with a tray of tea. After placing it on the table, the servant bowed and then took their leave. Lance went over to pour a cup for Pidge but she raced to beat him to it.

“Nope! Until we get your freezing under control, you’re staying away from my tea.”

“Hey! I’ve got it under control,” Lance said defensively. “It’s just a bit on the fritz at the moment.”

“Let me guess, since you’ve had access to my books you’ve been practicing more?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s the problem, when you’re untrained your magic is prone to leaking out. Using it more will cause it to leak more,” Pidge poured tea into one of the cups. “The only way to stop the leaking is to get a firmer grip on your magic. Speaking of which.”

She threw the hot contents of the cup straight at the Lance. On instinct Lance used his powers to freeze the tea, leaving him to catch the chunk of ice.

“Your reflexes are good,” Pidge complimented. “But next time see if you can stop the tea without freezing it.”

“Next time?”

* * *

Allura was at her vanity, preparing for the dinner. As she applied the final touches of her makeup two of her mice companions scurried onto the vanity, squeaking to get the princess’s attention.

“Well hello there,” Allura said cheerfully. “Where did you two run off to?”

The two mice squeaked their response.

“Oh really? How are things going with Pidge and her new bodyguard?”

Squeak squeak.

“They did what?!”

Squeak squeak.

“HE CAN DO WHAT?!”


	5. Realizations

The situation was lose - win - win.

Lance wasn’t going to get to go to the Groggerian Gala. It was an opportunity missed to soak in the elegant party atmospheric and expand his ever growing social network. He would also miss seeing Allura, who would be looking even more radiant than usual. (Difficult because she was always beautiful.) He saw her most every day now thanks to being attached at the hip to Pidge, but still mentally slapped himself for thinking it wasn’t that big of a loss.

A win, in that he had the night off, as much as a personal bodyguard to a princess a guy could have. Pidge had been fighting a twenty varga bug and was in no shape to be attending social functions, even an important annual one.

Pidge was spending the night in her room under the careful watch of her mother, who had insisted on some treasured mother - daughter bonding. Colleen was a skilled medic, so Lance had no problem being outranked for that decision. If it had been just him, he probably would have been able to keep her fever down with his magic. Pidge likely would have insisted on it so he could keep practicing. Pidge was in better hands this way though, so he didn’t mind spending the evening in his own room. (Adjacent to Pidge’s as he was always on call.) This would be an evening of self care.

He also suspected Colleen hated fancy parties about as much as Pidge did. It wasn’t so much the dressing up that annoyed Pidge, but rather the socialization. There were a select few nobles who didn’t care for how close Sam and his family were to the Crown, and they were not above making Pidge’s life miserable in whatever petty way they could. Lance ran interference - distracting Pidge by engaging in whatever conversation he could think of. She seemed to brighten up usually at that, and her genuine smile was much prettier than her fake one.

Lance froze mid step, his brows furrowed at the use of the particular adjective. Yes, pretty was the right word. Pidge was objectively very pretty. Smiles were always pretty.

He felt his cheeks flush. It wasn’t from the long, hot bath he’d just emerged from. He shouldn’t be thinking such things. Pidge was his charge. His job was to protect her, that was it.

It was too late for that though, they were already friends. Had they met under non-professional circumstances, it was likely they would still be near inseparable.

Pidge was endlessly fascinated with his magic, a trait that allowed him to experiment with it more than he ever would have by himself. He in turn loved watching the beautiful displays she put on with her plants, making maneuvers and feats seem effortless while she insisted on still being a novice. Lance felt like he knew her immediate family near as well as his own, and even the uneventful days passed quickly with her company as they puzzled over the drone.

Reminded of his reason for getting out of his bath, Lance pushed the thoughts of Pidge to the back of his mind and snatched a tablet he had left on the end of his bed. He plopped down into the mass of pillows and blankets. Adjusting his gold trimmed blue nightgown, he opened a video call, a wide smile on his own face.

He would never give up a free opportunity to call home.

His mother picked up shortly, the tips of her own mouth growing outward upon seeing her son’s face. “Lance, what a wonderful surprise! I thought you would be working tonight.”

As one of many grocers to the Castle, she was home on the family farm to oversee the planting and harvest of the crops. Even though he would be able to see her regularly during the winter months, the summer still felt too long.

“Hi Mom, love you too,” he chuckled. One side of his mouth curled up, half happy to see his mother and half sad at the reason why. “Pidge is sick, so I’m free tonight.”

She frowned, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Is it the twenty varga bug? We took Veronica in to see the doctor yesterday. It’s been going around in town, and now it’s going around the house.”

Lance grimaced. “Is she okay?”

“Nearly back to full strength now,” his mother assured him. “Fluids and rest did wonders. I’m sure Pidge will be fine too by morning. You tell her hello for me.”

“I will Mom,” Lance recited lovingly. “She says ‘hi’ back from the last time we talked.”

“When are you bringing her to the house?”

Lance laughed. “Mom, I’m her bodyguard, not her date.”

His mother rolled her eyes. “Could have fooled me. She is all you ever talk about when you call.”

“Because that’s my job,” he explained, exasperated by the direction of the conversation.

“It is not part of your job to talk about the way she uses her magic, the morning skin routine you made for her - you talk about her more than yourself. She may as well be part of the family with how much I know about her.”

Lance felt the blush come back as his back slowly slid down from the headrest to the mattress. Quiznak what was he doing?

“Okay, I think I get the point. Pidge is a good friend, and I’m not ready for any serious romance.”

His mother regarded him with a pitying expression, though for what he didn’t dare ask her to clarify. “All the more reason to bring her out to the farm. She would have so much joy seeing everything we grow here.”

Lance smiled again. She was right. Pidge would have a field day with all the different fruits, vegetables, and grains his family grew. He wondered what her magic would make of them. “I’ll ask. No promises though. We’re both really busy.”

She gave him a kind and cherishing smile. “Of course.”

They proceeded in idle chat for the better part of the evening. How was the rest of the family? (All his siblings stopped to say hello.) His young niece and nephew both were up past their bedtime, and would not go back to bed until they had heard a story from life at the Castle. Lance told them how Pidge was going to control a whole forest one day, and that their dear uncle was well on his way to becoming the most famous knight on Altea.

Once bidding his family good night, he switched off his tablet and set it on the nightstand. He got up and arched his back with a grimace, he’d not been sitting well during the long call.

Lance knocked on the door between his room and Pidge’s. Colleen answered, and neither of them needed anything. Pidge was on the recovery. She might be a bit groggier than usual in the morning, but would likely be herself by the afternoon.

Lance nodded, told her good night and the obligatory ‘wake me if you need anything’. He left the door closed, but unlocked, and tucked himself into bed.

He dreamt of Pidge. And himself. Together. Romantically.

Lance awoke hours before sunrise, his mother’s words echoing in his mind as he lay under the covers. That pretty smile. Pidge’s was infectious. Just thinking about it filled his chest with a warmth normally reserved for the fondest of memories. He thought to all the times thrived on making her happy, to see that smile. He wondered if she would be happy sharing a kiss with him. He envisioned her confident smirk softening as they embraced, soft lips on his own - 

This was bad. Friendship was one thing, but romantic feelings was an entire can of miniature weblums Lance did not want to open. He hadn’t lied to his mother but… what if this was it? His soulmate? What if Pidge didn’t feel the same way? What if he was wrong? That would make their professional relationship more than awkward.

He had until the afternoon to figure out what to do about it.

~~~~

“I quit.” A tablet containing the necessary transfer request form fell onto the desk with a thud.

Shiro’s jaw dropped, which would have been the most amusing thing if Lance hadn’t been so serious.

“Denied,” the Captain said seriously once he’d gathered his wits. He placed the tablet off to the side and cupped his hands on the desk in front of him. “Why?”

Lance sputtered, the response not what he had expected. “You can’t refuse me when I quit.”

“I can if it’s out of nowhere for no reason. You’re still under my command. Why?” he repeated.

A fake answer wouldn’t work. Shiro would know. Lance sighed with a frown, but then straightened up at attention. “I think I have romantic feelings for the Princess, Sir.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “I think the whole Castle knows about your crush on Allura.”

Lance’s straight face faltered. “Pidge.”

“…Pidge,” Shiro repeated slowly, face showing slow comprehension. “You think you have romantic feelings for Pidge.”

“Yes,” Lance agreed earnestly. “I’d like to stay at the Castle, I just want a reassignment. I can’t be Pidge’s bodyguard like this.”

He was already breaking social etiquette by hiding his powers, he couldn’t break another taboo.

Shiro sat back in his chair and considered, his sharp eyes burrowing as far as they could into Lance’s soul.

“The answer is still no,” Shiro finally told him, turning his attention back to his desk work. He grabbed the tablet with the transfer request and officially signed off to reject it. “I’ll do you a favor and not tell anyone you tried to quit.”

Lance’s eyes bulged. “You can’t!” He begged passionately. “I can’t be objective. It will drive me insane if I can’t say anything.”

“Talk to Pidge about it.”

“Talk to - Shiro do you know what you’re saying? If I do say something, what - what if she doesn’t feel the same?” Lance asked incredulously. “That would make things really awkward.”

“Look, Lance,” Shiro sighed and once again lay the tablet aside. He stood up and walked over to face his subordinate. “You’ve made a friend in the guardian of the lake, I trust your judgement,” he said compassionately. “That’s part of why I gave you this assignment in the first place. Your heart often works over your brain,” he placed his prosthetic hand over his own heart and then pointed to his head, “and that’s something that Pidge needs. Someone who is flexible and lets her breathe by not always following code to the letter. I really hate to transfer you when things are going so well.”

Lance shifted nervously, not this uncomfortable since his first day at training. “I can’t stop thinking about it, Shiro. I’ve never felt this way before. This isn’t something bodyguards are supposed to do.”

Shiro gave him a wry grin. “There are no rules against bonds of this kind between nobles - yes I’ve read your file and I know - so just do what comes naturally. If it becomes awkward, well, then we can talk. Until then though, I’m not letting you quit ”

Lance dropped his unvoiced protest and slumped his shoulders. “It’s really okay?”

Shiro gave him an encouraging smile. “I knew there was a slight chance something like this might happen. I wouldn’t have paired the two of you if I didn’t think you wouldn’t at least become close friends.”

Receiving the blessing, Lance finally smiled. “Didn’t you go through a full regiment before putting me on the job?”

He was given a glare for his troubles. “Back to work, Lieutenant.”

~~~~~

“Urgh, this place is a mess! I can’t believe I did all this while I was sick!”

Lance sat with an amused grin, chin propped up by the palm of his hand as he watched Pidge magically move overgrown plants back to their respective homes within her room.

She focused her magic on a juniberry flower the size of a pillow, trying to revert it back to a normal size. Even as the volume of plants decreased in the room, leaves and petals fell off and remained scattered across the floor. “It looks like the forest itself is in here,” Pidge moaned.

She was even more cute when flustered, Lance regretted thinking. Pidge had no idea of his internal dilemma and Lance intended to keep it that way at least for now.

This was different from his previous infatuations. Pidge had been a friend first and foremost after being his boss. Before telling her anything he wanted to be absolutely certain his feelings were genuine. If he was not sincere, his job and friendship would be ruined simultaneously. Shiro thought he was doing a good job, he didn’t want to betray that trust out of a false alarm.

“They wouldn’t have grown if you didn’t want them to,” he told her with a smirk. “Your mother was not happy that you were practicing magic while sick.”

Pidge glared at him. She collected the now much smaller flower and replanted it in it’s previously tipped over pot. “What about you? Did you do your exercises last night like I told you to?”

“I had other things on my mind,” he said neutrally. “Mom says hi by the way.”

“Oh,” Pidge said, anger quickly deflating. “Next time I promise to say hi to her myself.”

“The offer to visit the farm is still on the table,” he said.

“Not without knowing who is behind the drone,” she said resolutely. “I don’t want to get your family involved in this.”

Lance let the statement hang and Pidge went back to work. She cared so much, so passionately, and always finished what she set her mind to. It was inspiring, even if he couldn’t follow her talk on a tech level. Thanks to her tutelage, he was beginning to on a magical level.

He had a feeling this was a bond that was going to be near impossible to break. The only way to know was to ask. He just needed to find the perfect moment.

“Hey, let me try and help,” he said as he stood. “I can put my magic prowess to the test.”

Pidge put her hands on her hips, intrigued but not convinced. “What are you going to do to clean this up with water and ice?”

Lance grinned and summoned his magical energy to the surface. He reached out to a teapot full of water, slightly more volume than what he had been used to working with. Thanks to the more consistent practice, he found it easier to connect with than a small amount in a glass cup.

He bade the water to spread across the surface of the floor, picking up stray leaves as it moved the length of the room. Reaching the end, Lance stuck his tongue out in concentration and mimicked some hand movements he’d watched Pidge perform hundreds of times now. He rolled his wrists counterclockwise to the pale blue ball of light centered between his palms and the water filled with leaves and stems responded in kind. It swirled up into a ball and he moved it closer to Pidge so she could see the feat in its fully glory.

Lance turned to Pidge with a smirk. “They are all yours, Princess. Where would you like them?”

Pidge blinked rapidly at his words, as if she had been in a trance. Lance swelled with pride that he had done something impressive. Perhaps this would be a good time to approach her regarding his newfound feelings for her, at least she would look on him more favorably than normal, hopefully leading to a more positive result.

He soon mirrored her sudden frown as Pidge summoned her magic in equal measure.

“I’ll take them from here,” she said, gaining a smirk, that confident smirk that made Lance’s heart skip a beat. A light green energy outlined each plant part and one by one they floated magically into a giant bag, ready to be taken out for decomposition.

Lance found it was his turn to gape. “How did you do that? Those are dead parts! I thought you had to ask plants for permission?”

Finished, Pidge regarded him with a smirk. “It takes more energy and concentration. You’ve seen me play with leaves before.”

“Yes, but - “

Lance didn’t get a chance to finish as he lost his own concentration, sending his sphere of warm water all over Pidge.

Pidge stood in astonishment, raising her arms stiffly in disbelief as the fabric of her dress clung closer to her and water dripped from her sleeves. She glared at him. “I hope you have the energy to pick all of that up.”

Lance bit his lip. The outward manifestation of his magic flickered to nothingness and he grinned at her sheepishly, twiddling his thumbs.

Perhaps this was not the right time to have a conversation about their relationship.


	6. Loose Ends Part 1

The next time he and Pidge found a trail of shattered Balmeran crystals, he would take the wiser route and alert the Castle first before following it, Lance decided sorely.

Had he done so the first time, they might have been able to avoid this situation.

Heavy footsteps announced a new arrival, interrupting the eerie quiet of the dark room. Lance’s ears twitched, eyes closed to feign sleep and aide his concentration.

It was not armored boots, he knew what those sounded like better than back of his hand. The sound was more akin to softer shoes, like those nobles would wear.

Their host was finally going to introduce himself then.

Lance maneuvered his bound wrists the best he could behind his back, reaching out with the tips of his fingers as far as they could go. They sifted through a sea of crinkly material, the name of which rested on the tip of his tongue. He couldn’t see it, only able to turn his head to see a portion of what was over his shoulder. Even that was a difficult task between the darkness of the room and a taut rope keeping him tight against the back of the chair.

His hands finally made contact with flesh - another pair of hands - and he squeezed them.

“We’re about to have a visitor,” Lance told Pidge. “Stay alert.”

A squeeze back was all the response he received before the door opened and the room flooded with bright light. Lance winced and turned away, closing his eyes at the sensory overload.

“When my men told me I had some unscrupulous visitors, I hardly believed that the honorary princess was one of them,” the voice said with disgust. Lance recognized it immediately, but Pidge beat him to the punch.

“Duke Elor,” she said distastefully. Lance felt her body tense where their backs touched. “I should have known you were behind the drones. What are you planning to do with all these Balmeran crystals?”

Lance opened his eyes once more and turned his head to observe the duke. His gaze was drawn to what the only man held; his broadsword. The one King Alfor had given him upon becoming a Castle guard.

A part of him wanted to be very angry at the irreverence by which the duke held the special weapon. The luxury to do so was not afforded to him.

A very bad situation had just turned into a bodyguard’s worst nightmare. Helpless to protect his charge in the first place, Duke Elor had never been shy about his dislike of the Holt siblings. Although both families were equally distant cousins of the crown, Pidge and her brother had been granted the titles of princess and prince by virtue of their father’s valued scientific and military council.

Elor was perhaps understandably jealous, but Lance had never pegged him to go this far.

“Is it wrongful to do business in the trading of Balmeran crystals in peace and quiet?” he asked airily. “The drones are not mine,“ his voice carried in annoyance. "The trail which led the two of you here was an oversight which I have personally seen to the correction of.”

“It is illegal if you have them infused with additives,” Pidge accused. “For good reason. They’re a power source themselves, too dangerous to be mixed with any other energy.”

“A growing necessity in a demanding economy and viewpoint which our beloved king does not share,” Elor said condescendingly. “And because we do not see eye to eye, the two of you will remain here while I deliver this to my client.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Pidge growled. “King Alfor will find out about this.”

“Perhaps eventually, after I am long gone off planet,” he said coolly.

Lance scoffed, and grinned in confidence. “There’s no way you’ll get past space port security. They’ll be all over you before you can even break the atmosphere.”

His grin vanished as Elor’s mouth morphed into an unkind smile. “It is a good thing you both are here to provide a distraction, then.”

Reaching into his pocket, Elor produced a flare and lit it with the flick of his fingers.

The room illuminated and fear gripped Lance fast. The room in which they were being held was storage for mounds of dried juniberry and other tea leaves. Tied tightly to the chair, Lance hadn’t been able to feel the leaves through his armor, even though they piled up to his chest.

Leaves dry enough to catch fire with even the smallest spark.

Like the flare Elor had just lit.

“I thank you that your final act in life will be to my assistance.” He placed Lance’s broadsword up against the wall next to the door. “I can at least afford you the luxury of perishing with your weapon. Farewell, children.”

“Wait, Duke Elor don’t - !”

The Duke dropped the flare to the floor and both captives gasped in fear as the leaves burst into flame, spreading quickly all around them.

“Do not feel as if you’ve failed your duties, Lieutenant,” the duke said as he stepped backwards out of the room. “Think of yourself as here to guard Miss Holt in the afterlife.”

The door locked shut with deadly finality. Darkness returned but for what the fire illuminated. To Lance’s dismay, it had already engulfed a whole quarter of the room.

“If you have something clever up your sleeve,” he said in panic, “now would be the time!”

Pidge wiggled her wrists furiously. “Don’t you think I’m trying?! The leaves are so far gone I can barely feel a pulse. You’ve got water magic, put it out before it gets to us!”

Lance went rigid, shrieking as his toes begin to get too warm for his liking and a soft glow appeared just before him. “I can’t move my hands. Even if I could there’s no water here!” Desperately, he blew hard towards the flame, hoping to hold it back.

“Stop it, you’re going to make it worse! Just - just give me a minute!” Pidge yelled. Though her words were sharp, Lance could hear the fear in her voice.

Lance gave her silence and felt the familiar warmth of her magic fill the space immediately around them. While normally it gave him good feelings, the encroaching threat and the increasingly unbearable heat on his legs made it difficult.

Pidge coughed and Lance found himself doing the same after inhaling smoke. Was this really how he was going to meet his end? The worst bodyguard ever? Never to see his family again - let alone if they would ever find out what really happened to him.

Maybe now was the time to tell Pidge about his budding feelings for her. The timing was awful, but it was the one regret he could fix right now - for better or for worse.

“Pidge,” he began, “there’s something I need to - “

A leaf cut across his cheek as sharp as any sword. More of them circled and cut the rope that kept him tied down. In a flurry, even more leaves pushed out away from him, reducing the agony of the fire.

Lance looked up in wonder. The words he had intended to say taken from his mouth, leaving him to gape like a fish at the sight. Leaves swirled around the both of them until the floor beneath was bare, making them the center of a vortex of leaf and flame.

The ropes no longer restrain him and Pidge’s labored breath snaps him out of his awe.

“Pidge!” he jumped out of his chair and ran around to face his charge, kneeling to get a better look at her face. She sat in deep concentration, also now unbound. Sweat fell from her temples and her breathing became increasingly strained. Pidge rarely used this much volume of flora in practice, but the amount of energy Lance knew she was using due to the near-dead leaves was overwhelming her.

“Pidge, it’s time to go. I’ll carry you, we’ll make a break for the door,” he prodded.

Pidge did not respond, her head bowed and brows creasing with strain. Her face was more pale than usual.

She wasn’t going to be able to hold the firestorm in place for long anyway.

It was his turn to come up with a solution then.

Lance called upon his magic and with great care not to disturb Pidge, took her sweat and gathered it into as big a ball as he could.

He used the knowledge from one of Pidge’s lessons and infused his own energy into the small sphere. It grew in volume, bolstered by Lance’s magic. Standing, and stepping backwards, he balanced the precious water between his palms. Then very carefully he maneuvered it into the firestorm that surrounded them. The water mixed in with the fire and it slowly began to sizzle out bit by bit, leaving only a tornado of tea leaves.

A moan from behind alerted Lance that Pidge could not last any longer. She fell into his arms and the leaves dropped at the same time. The fire had not been extinguished, but their powers had bought them time.

"Let’s get out of here, Pidge. Hold onto me tight.” He took her arm and slung it over his own shoulder, carrying her towards the door.

Pidge groaned and her eyelids fluttered. “I’ve got the door. Stand back.”

She raised her arm and Lance saw what she was going for. He supported her arm and activated the computer on her wrist cuff for her once it was aimed at the door’s control panel. In just a few tics it opened without a problem.

“Nice job, Pidge,” Lance said. Pride for his friend filled him. “You never cease to amaze me.”

“Save it for later,” Pidge said as she flopped her head into Lance’s side. “We need to get out of here and warn the Castle. Duke Elor is still out there.”

Lance dutifully helped her outside, a fond feeling rising in his chest. “Let’s get you to a safe place and we’ll do just that. I have to do my job right once today,” he quipped. He accompanied it with a forced chuckle.

Pidge didn’t respond. Lance frowned, a serious demeanor falling over him. He collected his sword and sheathed it with his free hand.

He almost failed today. He wouldn’t let it happen again.

~~~~

Pidge woke rejuvenated. Aside from a post-wake up haze, her body felt energized and ready. Her legs felt slightly damp. She opened her eyes to see Lance sitting up next to her, their backs against a tree. The morning dew still clung to the grass underfoot.

Not just any tree, she realized, the Father Tree. Pidge sighed in relief. She couldn’t think of any safer place for them to be right now save the throne room. Even though her relationship with the Tree was still tenuous, she knew permission was there to draw upon some of the Tree’s smaller branches.

She still needed to fully earn its trust.

“I’m glad you’re awake,” Lance said in relief. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” she said. “I think the Father Tree did me a favor and replenished my magic. Did you call for help?”

Lance nodded. “Shiro has some guards on the way. I told them where we’re at.” He paused and tears formed around his eyes. Without warning, he grabbed her into a tight hug. “I was so worried for you. Here you are, saving me when I’m supposed to be your bodyguard.”

Once over the initial surprise, Pidge returned the hug softly. Something about Lance was so earnest and warm and it infected her with ease. It may have been cliche to think she was safe in his arms. “You brought me here. There was no way I could have gotten out of there alone. You more than did your job. We’re a team remember? That was our deal from day one.”

Lance chuckled, tears evident in his relief. “You’re right. I’m just… so thankful you’re okay. And not just because you’re my boss. It’s because you’re my friend and you mean so much mo - ”

“This is all very quaint, and rather annoying.”

Pidge gasped and broke from the hug. Focused on what Lance had been about to say, she hadn’t been paying attention to her surroundings. Inexplicably, Duke Elor stood before them. Two guards of his own aimed blasters menacingly towards her and Lance.

“How - how did you find us?” Pidge exclaimed angrily.

“I’m just as frustrated as you, young lady,” Elor chided. “Here I am awaiting my ride only to discover that the two of you have pulled off the impossible and escaped. That building should be in ruins by now.”

Lance shifted to his knees, sword between her and them. “We aren’t that easy to kill,” he said. Pidge couldn’t recall the last time he had sounded this devoid of all humor.

This situation scared him, she realized. Same as it did her.

“Careful with your choice of words, Lieutenant. I might take that as a challenge.”

Wind whipped up around the area, causing leaves and branches of all kinds to whirl about indiscriminately. Pidge shielded her face, but did not miss the shuttle that landed on the beach just yards away.

“Be obedient children this time and stay put for your death.”

The trees trembled in the presence of newcomers. It was Pidges only warning and she realized with a gasp that more enemies were inbound from the ship.

“Lance, above you!”

Lance raised the sword above him not a tic too soon. It clashed with a shorter blade descending from the trees. Lance grunted and heaved, forcing the assassin to land a good distance away and unable to complete the blow that had been intended for her.

The assassin was masked in purples and blacks, a sign of Galra make.

A greater fear than death took her. Pidge turned the fear to anger, directed at Elor. “We have been at peace with Daibaazal for centuries. Now you bring assassins and risk it all? For profit?!”

Elor did not react, placing his hands behind his back in proper posture. “We all must do what we can my dear child. Peace is simply bad for business.”

Lance stood to face the Galra assassin, practically snarling with his sword at his side ready to go. Pidge dug into her magic reservoirs, hidden behind Lance for the element of surprise.

Sweat dripped down her face as Pidge’s brain fought for a solution. Now the situation had turned impossible. If they were killed by a Galra blade, Altea would go up in arms. If they killed a Galra, even provoked, Zarkon would go to war.

Lance understood this as well as she did. He held his ground, grip visibly tightening around the hilt of his sword.

Elor turned up to the trees on his left, smile savage. “Kill the princess,” he ordered.

“Don’t you touch her!” Lance yelled, and launched himself at Elor.

Elor’s personal guards fired their blasters. Facial markings glowing bright and magic concentration in the palm of her hand, Pidge summoned help from the leaves of the surrounding trees to create a barrier for Lance, desperate to make sure he wouldn’t be hurt.

The leaves could not shield all of the continuous blasts. Lance deflected some with his sword as he pushed forward, but his battle cry quickly turned into one of pain. He twisted and fell to the ground with his back against the enemy.

Pidge’s breath caught in her throat as the assassin cut through her leaf shield and came at Lance with sword raised to strike a blow.

“Lance, look out!” she yelled.

Lance spun around on his back and once again met the Galra blade to blade. The two held the others blow, Lance clearly struggling after the repeated hits from the blasters.

The broadsword flew from Lance’s hand, flying and skidding a sizable distance away. The assassin’s blade thrust into his stomach and he screamed in pain.

Pidge wanted to go numb. Lance was her friend, possibly best friend. He was warm and kind and quick to be silly. He was her training partner, the first she’d ever had. Whatever she did, she did with him.

She loved him.

Through tear stained and fearful eyes, determination won out. She would not go numb, that wouldn’t help Lance at all. He would not die today, not if she could help it.

A warm, ancient feeling filled every inch of her being. Rage seeped into the gaps as the assassin ripped the blade out of Lance’s body and lifted him up by his collar.

Pidge saw everything. All around her each individual stem and leaf were outlined in a bright green glow. Thin vines surrounded her, twisting and twirling freely, ready to attack. She did not have to ask the plant life to do anything. They were of one mind and will.

The vines went rigid, making themselves as spears. Like lightning, they make their way to impale the assassin.

He saw the attack coming. With one great heave he threw Lance by the collar and jumped out of the way.

Pidge has no time to avoid Lance as she catches his full weight, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

“Enough toying with them,” Elor said in annoyance. “Finish the job.”

Pidge moaned in pain, but did not lose her wits. She rolled Lance onto his back and set him upright against the Father Tree.

The assassin raced towards the two downed Alteans, blade raised high. Abruptly, the assassin stopped. His blade slid out of his hand and fell to his knees, a bloodied shard of ice sticking out of his throat.

Lance’s markings continued to glow for a moment longer before flickering out. Pidge had no time to be fascinated by not only his quick thinking to use the dew, but also with his impressive phase changing.

He was in bad shape. Blood ran down from his eye, both of which were clenched shut in obvious pain. His right arm held fast to his abdomen and Pidge knew more serious injuries lay underneath his skin.

“Lance? Lance can you hear me?” Pidge said frantically, forcing herself not to shake him but rather apply pressure to his wound. Blood ran up to her wrists in an instant.

He groaned and bit his lip as he sucked in a breath. “Run,” he said. “I can spare you a few seconds. Get to the lake.”

“I am not leaving you,” Pidge declared firmly.

“It’s my job,” Lance said in equal measure. “Let me do it.”

“Shut up,” Pidge said. Instead of telling him why, she showed him.

She cupped her hand around his non-bloodied cheek and brought her lips in to meet his.

The kiss was soft and short. There was no time to dwell on how their friendship or professional relationship would change after this. Pidge didn’t have the luxury of time for it, or to wait for Lance’s reaction.

She stood between Lance and their would-be murderers. Vines from the Father Tree twist and curve around her hand, palm glowing more brightly and more powerful than ever. The sleeves of her dress ripped and her wrist cuff broke; her teeth grit in anger and determination.

They were both going to live, and only after they were both safe they would talk.

“You will not touch him,” she growled.

Elor rolled his eyes, clearly fed up with this whole matter.

“Defiant to the end. Captain.” He turned to his guards “Finish them!”

The guards aimed their blasters.

Pidge felt her markings light back up with fervor as she readied herself to defend against the blaster fire.

The standoff was interrupted as a curved blade flew in out of nowhere, embedding itself in one of the guards blasters. A hooded figure, dressed similarly to the assassin, raced in. With one hand he pulled the blade out from the weapon, and punched the guard in the jaw with the other, knocking him to the ground and out.

The second guard fired his blaster at the newcomer, who effortlessly blocked it with his blade. He raced forward and sliced the gun in half, using the handle of his blade to knock the guard unconscious.

Elor took several steps back, face full of raw fear. “What are you doing?! I pay you and this is how you repay me?”

“I take my payment in justice,” he said.

Gunfire from the shuttle blacked his path, which Elor took opportunity of to run to the safety of the ship.

The man in Galra colors shifted his head towards Pidge and dropped his mask. His black hair and pale face were the last features she had expected underneath the Galra uniform.

“Take down the ship! Hurry!” He yelled urgently.

Elor’s ship was taking off, loaded with the infused Balmeran crystals, Pidge could only hazard a few awful guesses about the type of people who would be buying.

She shot vines towards it, but even the Father Tree had limits. The flora stretched as far as it could, but the ship lifted high enough that they could not reach.

“No!” Their savior cried in dismay.

The shuttle hovered over the lake and turned to them. The telltale glimmer of the beam cannon charging made Pidge’s heart break. She scrambled to create a shield for the incoming blast, but no matter what she did, the physics didn’t add up. It wouldn’t be enough.

The ground shook violently. Instead of a laser from the shuttle, a much more powerful one rose from the center of Lake Altea and pierced the ship, causing it to explode on impact.

The gigantic figure of the Gombash leapt upwards to the flying debris, snatching fragments of metal and crystal before diving back into the lake. So large was the splash that the spray even reached them.

“Woah,” the man said in awe, shoulders slumped to a more relaxed position. “Can I get one of those?”

Pidge couldn’t help but feel only relief. The Gombash has saved not just them, but the Castle too. It was the one creature on the planet powerful enough to contain the explosions the crystals would inevitably create.

She let the plants return to their places. The grove looked as if nothing had ever happened.

She could now focus on the most important issue.

“Lance!” She flopped to her knees to check his vitals. Her tech confiscated and destroyed, she was forced to do it the old fashioned way.

He was visibly breathing. Still, she placed her forefingers at the base of his neck and read his heartbeat. Pidge deemed it within acceptable levels considering the situation. It wouldn’t stay that way if they stayed here too much longer.

Lance stirred and lifted his eyelids. “Are you safe?”

Her vision blurred at his concern. “We both are. We’ll have to explain Duke Elor’s death, but Gommy saved us from a lot of potential problems.”

“Gommy’s a good boy,” Lance chuckled with a soft smile. “I think I prefer your kisses to his though.”

Heat rose into Pidge’s cheeks. “We were about to die. I panicked.”

“I’m glad you did,” Lance said. With effort, he took her hands in his. His affectionate gaze somehow seemed different, a touch of love between the admiration and kindness.

“Is he going to be okay?”

She’d actually forgotten about the not-Galra warrior.

He knelt down the other side of Lance and produced a small container from his belt pouch. He began to rub a magenta colored cream over the wound. “This salve will start the healing process, but it’s not a cure all. He’ll still need medical attention.”

Lance looked up at him quizzically, a single eyebrow raised. “Oh. Um, thanks?”

“Who are you?” Pidge asked, trying to figure him out as much as Lance was. “Why did you help us?”

“Because it’s my job,” he said, rolling back onto his feet. “My name is Keith. I’m an agent with the Blade of Marmora.”

“The Blade of Marmora?” Pidge repeated, her mind buzzing with the new information and trying to piece the puzzle together. “That’s Zarkon’s most elite military unit. You don’t look Galra.”

“Wait how do you know about the Marmorites?” Lance asked her. “That’s top secret stuff. Shiro had to call in tons of favors for my clearance.”

“Well, I’m technically not supposed to know,” Pidge admitted frankly. “It came up one day while I was searching the Castle archives.”

Lance’s eyes bulged comically. “Those are encrypted!”

“Yeah, poorly,” Pidge scoffed.

“I’m half Galra,” Keith explained. By the way his eyes darted between the both of them, he was just as equally trying to judge their character. “Dad was Altean. That’s why I was selected for this mission.”

“Wait, how long have you been investigating this?” Pidge probed. She was cautiously curious about the situation. Why hadn’t the guards been notified of this?

“I lost my reconnaissance drone several months ago, so I had to gather information on the ground. Duke Elor was my first suspect, so I joined the Galra mercenaries to see it first hand. Now the Duke is dead and the crystals destroyed. You two,” he said crossing his arms, “are my only witnesses.”

Pidge’s jaw dropped.

“The drones were yours?!” she and Lance exclaimed together.

Keith, taken aback and eyes wide, responded in kind. “You two destroyed it?!”

“So it was a Galra spy!” Lance declared angrily, leaning forward. “You should have told us, we wou - “ a coughing fit cut him off. Pidge gently pushed him back against the Father Tree.

“I did!” Keith defended. “I was assured that King Alfor was aware of everything.”

“He sure didn’t seem like it when we found the drone,” Pidge remarked with suspicion. “Are you sure Kolivan sent you?”

Keith opened his mouth to respond, but was silenced by the noise of Altean blasters. A five man squad from the Castle stood ready to fire.

“Step away from the princess and put your hands on your head, assassin. You’re under arrest.”

The combination of defeated and incredulous was amusing to see on Keith’s face as he raised his hands in surrender. Pidge frowned. This latest action continued to convince her that he was telling the truth. No assassin would give himself up so willingly or offer healing to a mortally injured target.

Help for Keith would have to wait. Lance kept his eyes closed, focusing on every breath. Speaking had drained more of his energy than he had anticipated. Although not in immediate danger, Lance needed medical attention, at least more than Pidge could provide at the moment.

Once the repercussions from today had settled and Lance was healed, then they could talk.

And they had more to talk about than just magic.


	7. Loose Ends (Part 2)

Once the shuttle landed at the Castle, two guards took Lance and Pidge to the infirmary while the rest were escorting the prisoners, a shackled Keith amongst them. Shiro stopped the guards.

“I’ll take care of this one,” Shiro said, pointing to Keith. “Uncuff him.”

“But sir…”

“There is nothing you can say that will make me change that order,” Shiro interjected. “So stop wasting my time.”

The guard quickly complied then left with the remaining prisoners, leaving Shiro and the uncuffed Keith behind. Once alone Keith pulled out a miniature projector. He activated it, causing it to reveal a map.

“The rest of the smuggling operation is here,” Keith said, pointing to a mark area on the map. “They should still be incapacitated.”

“Alright then, I’ll send a team right away,” Shiro replied. “Meanwhile, you’re coming with me. Once the King is certain the princess is alright he is going to want an explanation.”

* * *

King Alfor arrived at the infirmary alongside Coran. Shiro and Keith were standing to one side, a doctor was giving Pidge a lookover while Lance was already in a healing pod.

“How are they?” he asked.

“The princess is fine, just in need of some rest,” the doctor replied. “The first aid Lieutenant McClain received on the field means he will only need a short stint in the healing to make a full recovery.”

“Thank you doctor. If you are finished with your examination I would like a word with them.”

“Of course.” The doctor gave a quick bow before leaving.

“While we are waiting for Lance to finish healing, how about you explain us what exactly happened.”

“Do you want the short version or the long version?” Pidge asked, clearly wanting to be helpful but also just so done with the day.

“We have a dead Duke, a dead Galra assassin, your guard is in a healing pod and apparently you helped take down a smuggling operation,” Alfor stated. “Tell me what ever version makes sense of all this. Though how about you start with what you were doing taking on a crystal smuggling operation with no back up.”

“Okay for the record. We just so happened come across them.”

“Explain.”

“So after months of digging at long last I was able to get information about the drone Lance took down. We found someone who was able to identify the drone as Galra tech. He was also able to help extract information from what remained of the drone. It wasn’t much, just a single GPS location. We figured it might have been the place where the drone came or at least another location that was being watched by the drone. We followed the location and it brought us to a scrap yard. There we found shattered Balmera crystals.”

“That’s odd,” Coran commented. “Any Balmeran crystals that shatter are supposed to be taken back to a Balmera to reabsorb the nutrients.”

“Our thoughts exactly so I ran a scan on it,” Pidge explained. “The crystal had several chemical anomalies that made it different from pure crystals. Someone had been using discarded crystals to grow artificial ones.”

“Artificial ones aren’t as good as the originals but I guess is actual Balmera crystals are out of the question beggars can’t be choosers.”

“We also found some impurities in the crystal that were consistent with what you’d find in a Scaltrite refinery. There was an abandoned Scaltrite refinery nearby so we decided to check it out.”

“And during any of this did you think to call for support?”

“Well yeah but that was kinda the problem,” Pidge replied. “As soon as we saw significant activity at the presumably abandoned refinery we tried to get out word of what we had been found. Unfortunately they had been scanning for signals and as soon as we got out a message they were on us. Turns out the Duke had been supplying weapons and artificial crystals to Galra extremists. He then tried to leave us for dead in a burning refinery and when that didn’t work he tried to kill us in the forest.”

“That Duke certainly was a piece of work,” Coran commented before quickly adding. “May his spirit find peace.”

“He was selling to extremists and tried to kill my niece so I’m not wishing too hard for that,” Alfor replied before turning to Keith. “And how do you fit into all this?”

“A group of Galra extremists called the Divine Fist has been causing serious trouble along the outer rim of the Galra empire,” Keith explained. “They weren’t yet a major threat but people were still losing their lives so something had to be done about them. When the Blade of Marmora discovered they’d started using Altean tech and artificial crystals, it was clear they had Altean backing. I was sent to investigate covertly to avoid a galactic incident.”

“Keith contacted me about this investigation,” Shiro added. “I approved it but kept it under wraps both for fear of the backlash and not to tip anyone off.”

“Wait, this is the smuggling operation you told me you were investigating off the books?” Alfor asked in disbelief. “I thought you were meaning something like a bunch of merchants trying to bypass tariffs on Thaja fruit.”

“I told you it had potential galactic consequences and that it was better for you to have plausible deniability,” Shiro replied with a wry grin. “Do you honestly think I would do that for just Thaja fruit?”

“He’s got you there,” Coran commented.

“I tried to find the Altean responsible but when my drone was destroyed I instead infiltrated the Galra on Altea to try to find the operation. Unfortunately, the head honcho kept a safe distance from it. Ironically, the princess and her guard snooping about is what managed to crack the case as it caused the Duke to come deal with the matter directly and it brought nearly the entire smuggling operation together in order to close shop. I mean the Divine Fist is still out there but taking away their source of weapons and tech will severely cripple them. ”

“Glad we could help with that,” Pidge replied. “Though care to explain what you were doing spying on me of all people?”

“I wasn’t spying on you specifically, I was trying to investigate as wide a net as possible,” Keith replied. “I don’t even know how it was your guard out all people that noticed it.”

“What can I say,” Lance replied. “I’m pretty awesome.”

“Lance!” Pidge exclaimed. “When did you get out?”

“About a Dobash ago,” Lance replied. “It seemed like it would have been rude to interrupt.”

“Now that you’re out maybe you can fill out a final question I have,” King Alfor in an inquisitive tone. “Namely that dead Galra assassin.”

“What about him?” Lance asked.

“He was found dead because of a shard of ice in his neck, in the middle of a forest in the middle of summer.”

“So?”

“We know Pidge didn’t conjure it and it is highly unlikely that one of the Duke’s men would kill their own assassin. That only leaves you.”

“How do you know it wasn’t Keith?” Lance asked, side-eying the Marmora agent.

“I don’t have Ice magic,” Keith replied.

“A likely story,” Lance accused.

Instead of replying, Keith held out an open palm. There was a brief spark before a small ball of fire appeared, floating slightly above the open hand.

“Okay,” Lance said at the sight, visibly deflating. “That is unfortunate for me but still really cool.”

“Lieutenant McLain,” King Alfor said sternly. “Is there something you’d liked to tell us?”

Realising it was time to come clean Lance took in a deep breath.

“Yes, there is something I need to tell you.”

“Something we both need to tell you,” Pidge chimed in, standing beside her guard.

Lance was at first surprised but then felt relieved at the reminder that he was not facing this alone.

Lance held out an open palm. His markings started to glow as he used his powers to pull in the moisture from the air. Finally enough moisture was collected to form an ice shard in his hand.

“I’ve known for a long time that I could use magic,” Lance confessed. Pidge took his hand in support, and Lance was grateful for it. “The idea of going to school so far away from my family terrified me as a kid, so I never told anyone. After so many years it was just easier to keep the secret - until Pidge found out.”  
  
“I’ve been giving him some basic instruction since then,” Pidge took over, voice firm and matter of fact. “Lance has excellent control and he’s well past the required introductory class level. He’s not going to harm himself or anyone else unless he intends to. Therefore I request he remains on as my guard.”  
  
“Well, that solves that mystery,” Alfor said with a resigned sigh. “There is still much that needs to be sorted out regardless. Lieutenant, get the doctor to do a final check up to make sure you’re fully recovered. Once that’s done you and Pidge will be escorted back to your rooms while we decide what we’re going to do about all…this.” He turned to Keith, “A couple of guards will escort you to a cell. Unfortunately, this is now a far more public matter than I think you or Shiro ever intended it to be. We will need to provide answers. We won’t be able to hide the fact that you were spying on Altean citizens as a foreign agent. I have no intention of sending you to prison but we need a solution that will satisfy the law and the public.”

“Actually,” Lance interjected. “Since technically he may have saved our lives, how about he stays with me and Pidge until you figure what you want to do with him.”

“Yeah,” Pidge added, feeling that Keith deserved better than being put in a cell. Even if she was still slightly peeved about the whole drone thing. “We’ll make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”

“I’ll assign some guards outside their door to make sure they don’t go anywhere,” Shiro added, eager to see Keith not be thrown in a cell.

“Those certainly are excellent points,” Alfor replied with a wink before turning back to Keith. “You’ve earned at least a bit of leniency but it would be in your best interest to still be there when we come to get you.”

“I have no intention of running your highness,” Keith replied.

“Are you sure? I promise we wouldn’t try that hard to chase after you.”

“Nice try your highness,” Shiro interjected. “Keith is not becoming a fugitive just so you can get out of thinking of a better solution.”

“It was worth a shot,” the king replied with a shrug.

At that Alfor, Coran and Shiro left. After a moment of silence Keith turned to Lance.

“What do you mean ‘may have saved you’? You were bleeding out from a stab wound facing guys with guns. There is no way you could have survived.”

“You don’t know that,” Lance shot back. “I’ll have you know I’m incredibly resourceful.”

Keith rolled his eyes at this.

[hr]

Two vargas later Lance, Keith and Pidge arrived at one of the king's private meeting rooms. The King, Coran, Shiro and Pidge’s parents were already waiting for them. Pidge gave her parents a nervous wave until they scooped her into a hug.

“We’re so glad you’re alright,” Samuel said. “We would have stopped by to check on you but Alfor wanted our advice on this.”

“If we can proceed,” Alfor said, “You’ve all had a long day so I’m sure you’d like to get this done as soon a possible.”

Everyone took a seat.

“We are investigating the Duke’s operations,” Alfor explained. “His death makes things more difficult but because it was done by the Gombash it makes malicious intent unquestionable. It may take a while to sort through it all but those responsible will pay for their actions.”

“We have spoken with Kolivan. He has agreed that the dead Galra assassin will be overlooked in exchange for us handing over the smugglers to be questioned and sentenced under Galra law,” Shiro explained. “On our end, all of Lieutenant McLain’s actions were in the service of protecting his charge, as such no charges will be brought forward.”

Lance and Pidge let out the breaths they had been holding.

“Unfortunately things aren’t quite as simple regarding Keith,” Alfor said. “We all know that you were here on orders by the Blade of Marmora and that Shiro approved it. However, we also know the Blade cannot publicly admit to spying on an ally to the Galra empire. Ironically you running an unauthorised mission causes less of a PR crisis than you having run an authorised one. Luckily Coran came up with a solution.”

“Indeed,” Coran said. “Rather than be formally charged, you’ll instead be given a chance to earn a Paladin’s Pardon.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a special piece of Altean law that is saved for people who are believed to be a greater service to Altea outside of a cell than in one,” Alfor explained. “Shiro has spoken highly of your skill and we’ve decided that rather than incarcerate you, you will earn your pardon working under Shiro.”

“For how long?” Keith asked. “Not to sound ungrateful but you can’t keep me here forever.”

“Of course not,” Coran replied. “As for how long, that’s entirely up to you. A Paladin’s Pardon is earned through the type of service, not the length of service. Serve just as a regular guard and you’ll earn your pardon in about five Deca-pheobs. Do great deeds for King or country and you’ll the Pardon quicker.”

Keith took a moment to ponder this.

“Well, it’s better than prison I guess

“That’s spirit,” Coran said, giving Keith a hearty pat on the back. “Now if you’d come with me, I’ll get you settled in and discuss the full terms of your stay.”

Keith looked at Shiro. When the captain gave a quick nod, Keith let himself be led away.

“Lieutenant McClain,” Shiro said. “A word.”

Lance followed Shiro out of the room. Pidge turned to her parents.

“So are you alright with all this?” Pidge asked.

“We’re your parents,” Samuel replied. “We’re never going to be alright with you or Matt being in danger but we raised you to be strong, capable people. That comes with the unfortunate cost of having to let make your own choices and take risks.”

“What about Lance?”

“You’re both alive which means he did his job,” Colleen answered. “Besides, you finally have friends that you aren’t related to. We wouldn’t take that away from you.”

Pidges pulled her parents into a hug. “Thanks.”

“Just promise us that next time you uncover a conspiracy involving gun-wielding smugglers you’ll call for backup.”

“I promise.”

“Also try to avoid getting Lance stabbed again,” Colleen advised. “If you break this guard I don’t think Shiro’s getting you a new one.”

* * *

Shiro led Lance to a nearby room. As the door closed Lance felt the need to speak.

“Shiro, I…”

“Lance, I am going to speak first and if you have anything to add afterward I promise you will get your chance, sound fair?” Shiro waited for Lance to nod before continuing. “I know you are sorry about what happened at the refinery, I know you are probably still beating yourself up about not calling for reinforcements. Mistakes happen, what important is that you are both alive to learn from them.”

“Thank you sir.”

“As for you hiding your magic. I appreciate that you were stuck in a situation that felt like there were no good options. Know that you could have come to me about this but I’m not going to waste times on coulds or shoulds. What matters is the now and I need to be able to trust you. So I’m going to ask you this one time, is there anything else I should know about?”

“Pidge kissed me,” Lance blurted out. “It happened while we were in the forest. I’m not quite sure what to make of it but it happened.”

Shiro blinked twice at this. “That…wasn’t what I meant.”

“Oh…then no,” Lance answered. “The magic thing was the only major secret I was carrying.”

Shiro gave Lance a hard look but then nodded when he seemed satisfied.

“On personal level, I don’t care about the magic, if anything it makes you more capable of protecting Pidge.” Shiro answered. “However, this isn’t just about my thoughts on the matter. Any Altean with magic can not be a guard unless they have level one alchemist creditions. Those aren’t rules I can bend for anyone.”

“I understand,” Lance replied.

“The Alchemist tests are in 60 quintents,” Shiro explained. “You will continue to guard Pidge until then. If you pass the level one tests you will be allowed to remain as Pidges guard. This is slightly outside of normal procedure but if anyone questions this I’ll remind them that thus far you are the only guard that Pidge has been able to work with.”

“Thank you Shiro, you won’t regret this.”

“I’m sure I won’t,” The captain replied. “Now we will sit on the whole magic thing for today but tomorrow I will need to get the ball rolling so word of your abilities is going to get out. If your family isn’t already aware of your abilities I’m sure they would rather find out from you.”

Lance nodded. That certainly was not going to be a fun conversation.

“If there’s nothing else to discuss. You’re dismissed.”

Lance turned to leave and then paused before turning back to Shiro. “So about the whole Pidge thing…”

“Officially my stance is still the same as the last time you brought this to my attention,” Shiro replied. “But if you want my unofficial advice, talk to her. See how she feels and go from there.”

* * *

Lance and Pidge arrived back at her room. Lance quickly pop into his room and returned with a bottle of Nunvil and two glasses.

“I thought this would be appropriate,” Lance said as he poured Nunvil in to the two glasses. He passed one filled glass to Pidge and held his up as toast. “To cracking the case and not dying.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Pidge replied as she chinked her glass with his.

To the two drank in silence, taking the time savour the Nunvil as well as the fact that they were alive to enjoy it. Lance finished his first and placed the glass down.

“So are we going to talk about what happened in the forest?”

“What part?” Pidge asked.

“The part where we kissed.”

“Oh,” Pidge said quietly as she placed her glass down.

“Yeah, that part,” Lance replied. “I know the timing isn’t great but I doubt there will ever be a good time for this. We kissed, that means something to me and I think it meant something to you too and not in a ‘I don’t want to die before I’ve kissed at least one handsome man’ sort of way.”

“Lance…I…”

“Look I’m not bringing this up because I expect something from you,” Lance interjected. “I just need to know where we stand and how we are going to proceed moving forward.”

Pidge took in a deep breath as she tried to collect her thoughts.

“Let’s break it down logically,” she finally said. “It’s clear we both care about each other. It’s clear that the kiss meant something. It’s also clear that this is a potential minefield in so many ways and I don’t think we’re ready to address all of the potential pitfalls right now.”

“So what? Do you want to pretend nothing happened?” Lance asked. “Go back to being friends while we ignore the Weblum in the room.”

Pidge bit her lip as she contemplated that question. Some part of her wanted just that, to treat this whole thing like a crashed computer. Reboot it back to a previous point where it was still functioning, where she didn’t have to deal with all these confusing emotions. And yet she knew life didn’t work like that.

“I don’t think we could even if we wanted to,” she finally said.

“So what should we do?” Lance asked.

“Take it one day at a time, not put a name to what this is yet.”

Lance took a moment to process what Pidge was suggesting. He wasn’t sure what he had expected but truth be told this gave him hope. His feelings for Pidge were unchanged and if anything were stronger. And to find out Pidge felt something for him too was more than he could ask for. Still, he had had concerns when he first realized how he felt and in time found more. Still, if there was a chance to make this work…

“That sounds like the best way to play this,” Lance finally said. “Though would it be wrong for me to ask for ‘thank the Ancients we both survived today’ hug?”

“No…I’d like that too,” Pidge replied as she pulled Lance in for a hug.

Two stood there holding each other, neither of them wanting to admit how right this felt. But eventually they had to be brought back to reality.

“Pidge, there is something else that happened today that we need to address,” Lance said when he finally ended the hug.

“What?”

“When we were in the forest I told you to run and you didn’t. That can’t happen again. I tell you to run, you run.”

“No,” Pidge replied flatly

“No? You almost got gunned down defending me.”

“And if I hadn’t you would have been gunned down,” Pidge shot back. “Am I supposed to leave you to die just to save my own skin.”

“Yes that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do,” Lance snapped. “I’m your bodyguard, it’s my job to keep you safe no matter what.”

“Well in that case, you’re fired. If having you as my bodyguard means that I should leave you to die to save my skin then I don’t want you as my bodyguard.”

“Come on you can’t seriously…”

“I want you as my partner,” Pidge replied. “I need someone who will watch my back and know that I am watching his. Someone that I can trust to help me do some good.”

This caught Lance’s attention. “Do some good? What do you mean?”

“Look at what we achieved. We helped prevent a major galactic incident.”

“We also barely escaped death twice,” Lance shot back. “You can’t honestly say you want to go through all that again.”

“Not that specifically. Still, who knows what cases are out there to be solved.”

“And how do you suggest we go about finding these ‘cases’?” Lance asked. “I don’t think your family would approve of us hunting for mysteries.”

“Nothing drastic,” Pidge assured Lance. “Just put out feelers. When something comes up that seems worth a second look, we’ll take that second look.”

“Still, sounds like we would be looking for trouble.”

“As opposed to what? Spending your time babysitting a princess who has no official duties aside room ‘advisor to future Queen’?”

“Firstly don’t call what I do ‘babysitting’,” Lance replied. “I’ve babysat my niece and nephew on more than one occasion and they never threw hot tea at me!”

“Fair point,” Pidge conceded

“Secondly, even if you want to do this instead of, I don’t know, asking Allura or King Alfor to give you more official duties. Are you absolutely sure you’d want me to be your partner in this?”

“Without a doubt,” Pidge replied. “Separately we’re good, possibly even great. Together we could be legendary.”

Lance stared at Pidge for a moment.

“You know, if the whole ‘princess’ thing doesn’t work out, you’d make a decent saleswoman.”

Pidge held out her hand. “So… partners?”

Lance smiled as he took it.

“Partners.”

The two held hands for while. When they realised it was longer than what was considered normal for a handshake, they let go.

“Just one question though,” Lance said. “Were you being metaphorical or literal about firing me as your bodyguard? I’m onboard for being your partner but I still need to eat.”

PIdge rolled her eyes as she picked a nearby tablet and starting downloading a file onto it.

“No, officially you’ll still be my bodyguard. First order of business will be making sure you stay that, meaning we need to get you up the speed on this.” She handed over the tablet.

“What is it?” Lance asked.

“The full curriculum of everything you’d be expected to learn before sitting the first level Alchemedial Tests,” Pidge replied. “First level is fortunately basic level graduation, for people who have fundamental control of their abilities but chose to forego advance Alchemy in favour of some other profession. Unfortunately that’s still several Deca-pheobs worth of learning we need to cover.”

“Deca-pheobs?!” Lance asked in dismay.

“Several,” Pidge replied. “Luckily I passed the First Level Tests when I was 12.”

“Unluckily I’m not you,” Lance replied as he skimmed through the curriculum.

“Come on, you befriended the Gombash, taught yourself basic water magic, cheated death twice in one day and you’ve got me helping you. There’s nothing you can’t do.”

“No,” Lance amended with a smile. “There’s nothing we can’t do.”


	8. Coming Clean

Lance arrived at his mother’s accommodation at the castle. By chance she was at the castle sorting out some shipments meaning that he would be able to have this conversation in person with at least one person in his family. He knocked on her door. When she answered she pulled Lance in for a hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” She said as she released her hold. “Come in, come in.”

Lance entered, taking a moment to remove his sword and leave it by the door.

“I’m so glad you had time to visit,” his mother stated, “How are things?”

Lance would have loved nothing better than to fall into the usual rhythm of talking about each other’s life but he knew if he didn’t come clean soon he might lose his nerve.

“Mom, there’s something I need to show you,” he finally said.

“What is it dear?”

Lance took in a deep breath and summoned a shard of ice in his hand.

“Wow,” Lance’s mom said in amazement. “You’ve gotten good at that.”

Lance dropped the ice in shock.

“YOU KNEW!!!”

“I’m your mother, besides you’re not as good at keeping a secret as you think you are.”

“When? How?”

“The when was probably soon after you discovered your abilities,” his mom replied. “As for the how, I saw you freeze over a puddle and staring at it in amazement.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well I was going to at the time but then Luis crashed the quad into a silo and we had that big mess to deal with.”

“Oh yeah,” Lance said, recalling that event.

“Then when that mess was dealt with I told your father and we realised you would have to be sent to a boarding school.”

“Dad knows?”

“Of course he does, I wouldn’t keep something like this from him. Also, don’t interrupt.”

Lance laughed affectionately. “Sorry.”

“I don’t know if you remembered but we tried to broach the topic with you about the boarding school. You flat out denied having magic and we didn’t push. You can be really stubborn if you want to be and we knew that trying to force you would just make you deny it harder. We tried to give you space and time for you to open up to the idea yourself. The problem is that we gave you too much time. When we realised that you were never going to come clean with us about it, you were already significantly older than what your classmates would be. We were afraid that people would think you were slow or something and we didn’t want to subject you to that.”

Lance’s mom sat down and ran a hand through her hair.

“I know I should have pushed harder when you were young but I didn’t want you to go either,” she continued. “I liked having you are home and the idea of sending you to some boarding school miles away was too much. So it was just convenient to keep this a secret. I know it probably makes me a bad parent for stopping you from reaching your full potential.”

“Hey!” Lance interjected. “You’re a great parent, thanks to you I was exactly what I was meant to be.”

The McClains hugged. As she pulled away she wiped a tear from her eye.

“Well now that it’s out in the open, how about you show me what you can do.”

Lance happily obliged, pulling water from a nearby sink. The water flowed the air, taking various shapes. Finally Lance gathered the water in his hands and froze it into a bouquet of juniberry flowers.

“Amazing,” Lance’s mom said, in awe of how delicate the leaves and petals looked.

“Yeah that took a bit of practice,” Lance admitted. “Wanted to perfect that before showing Pidge.”

“Already bringing her flowers, thinks must be moving quickly.”

“Mom!”

“Huh, no out denials about her just being a friend,” she commented. “Any developments we should know about?”

Lance cursed under his breath, realising he really couldn’t keep a secret from her. “Well me and Pidge kissed.”

“Really? Tell me more.”

“Well it just kind of happened when we were in the forest about to be gunned so we are still feeling our way through this and taking it one step at a time.”

“Wait….gun downed?”

“Wow I really can’t keep a secret.”

Lance proceeded to tell his mom about everything that happened leading up to the kiss. By the end his mom was looking significantly shell shocked.

“Wow…that’s a lot to take in,” She finally managed out.

“Are you ok?” Lance asked.

“Yes…well no. I’m probably going to go scream into a pillow later over the fact that one of my children almost died twice today,” she admitted. “That said I’m glad to hear about you and Pidge.”

“Thank mom, like I said we’re taking this one step at a time. Feeling things out as we go.”

“So would you want to hold the wedding at farm?” She asked.

“Actually if we hold it near Lake Altea it means Gommy can attend.” Lance then realised what he had said. “That is getting incredibly ahead of ourselves.”

Lance’s mom chuckled. “You are just too much fun to tease. Come let’s go call the rest of the family and tell them about your magic. Though let’s leave out the part where you almost died.”


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place sometime after the previous chapters

Various shuttles arrived at the lake in the forest. A platform was floating in the lake but connected to the shore. On the platform was seating as well as the altar.

Guests from all backgrounds stepped out of the shuttles and were lead to their seats.

King Alfor and Coran went to greet the rulers of Daibazaal and their son.

“Zarkon, Honerva, Lotor,” King Alfor greeted. “Thank you so much for coming.”

“We are pleased to be invited,” Zarkon replied. “Though I am surprised the wedding would be here and not at the capital.”

“That was at the request of the bride and groom,” Alfor replied. “They wanted it held here so two of their close friends could be present. Speaking of which here comes one now.”

A large creature rose out of the lake.

“What is that?” Zarkon demanded.

“That is the Gombash,” Coran explained. “Don’t worry, he’s a peaceful creature. Unless of course he senses you having malicious intent in which case he will kill you where you stand.”

Zarkon looked at the Gombash with fear and uncertainty until Honerva gave him a reassuring pat on the arm.

“It’s fine dear.”

The three went to their seats. Lotor suddenly felt a light tugging on his hair. As he turned he saw a small Altean girl.

“Hi I’m Nadia,” The girl said brightly.

“Prince Lotor, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Lotor replied.

“You have really nice hair.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I braid it for you?”

“Er….”

Lotor was thankfully spared having to give an answer when Nadia was called back by her mother.

“Nadia! Get back here!”

“Ok, bye Prince Lotor.”

As the girl left Honerva commented. “I think you’d look good with a braid.”

Lotor could only give his mother a half-hearted glare.

Keith and Krolia sat nearby seat watching everything going on.

“Thank you for bringing me along,” Krolia said to her son.

“The invitation allowed for a plus one,” Keith answered. “There’s no one else I’d want to bring.”

“True,” Krolia developed a sly grin. “Though you know, it might have been a good opportunity to bring a date.”

“Mom!”

“Just saying.”

As Alfor was at the Altar going over the notes of the ceremony Blaytz approached and gave the king a hearty pat on the back.

“Today’s the big day, and to think you’re now well on your way to having grandkids.”

“Blaytz, it’s my niece, not my daughter, getting married today.”

“Oh,” Blaytz replied. He then gave Alfor another hard pat on the back. “Well that means you’re well on your way to having grand nephews and nieces.”

“Indeed.”

* * *

In a nearby tent Lance was putting the final touches to his outfit. It was a suit of armour but far more impressive than his normal attire. Not only was it more intricately made and bore his family crest and the metal was gleaming. He attached his clock and gave himself a final look over as Hunk let out a whistle of approval.

“Not gonna lie buddy,” He said. “You’ve never looked better.”

“Come on Hunk, you know I look good in anything.”

“Really? How about that time you lost that bet and had to wear that Snargle herder outfit?”

“Alright,” Lance conceded. “I look good in most things.”

“Though Hunk’s not wrong little brother,” Luis said. “You’ve never looked better.”

Lance smiled as the men present nodded in agreement. It was no surprise that Hunk was chosen to be the best man. Filling out the ranks of Groomsmen were his two brothers Luis and Marco as well as Matt.

“Alright you’re ready,” Hunk declare. “Now before go out there I want you to remember three things. I love you, I’m proud of you and if you screw this up I’ll never forgive.”

“Love you too,” Lance replied as they gave each other a hug.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” Everyone turned and saw Shiro enter the tent. “Just wanted to make sure you were almost ready. We’re starting soon.”

“Shiro!” Lance exclaimed. “How do I look?”

“Really good. Though there is one thing missing.”

“Really? What?”

“This.” Shiro pulled out a small box. He opened it to reveal a medal.

“Is that…?”

“Lance McClain, You have served Altea and the Crown diligently and nobly. You have upheld the principles this world is found on and are an example for others to aspire to. As your Captain I could not be prouder. In recognition of your continued service and valor, It is my honour to present you with the Star of Mefral.”

Lance was dumbfounded as Shiro pinned the medal on to the breastplate of his armour.

“There will be a formal ceremony for it later on but I thought it would only be right that you get to wear it on your wedding day.”

“Wow, Shiro this is amazing, thank you,” Lance stated. “Though is it wrong to say this is only the second best thing to be happening to me today.”

Shiro smirked as he gave Lance a pat on the shoulder. “There’d be something wrong with you if that wasn’t your response. Now all of you finish up. The last thing we want is to make this man late for his own wedding.

Once they all were prepared they stepped out and headed to the altar. As Lance walked up aisle he got various hugs and handshakes (in the case of Blaytz a high five) from the people he walked passed. He lingered with his parents, hugging them tightly as they told him how proud they were.

As he made it to the Altar, he turned his attention towards the Gombash.

“Gommy! I’m glad you could make it.”

Gommy trilled happily as he leaned in to briefly nuzzle Lance.

“Alright then,” Lance declared. “Razzle Dazzle Time!”

* * *

The under the shade of the Father Tree, the female party was set up in a tent doing the final preparations.

“There, finished,” Veronica stated as she put down the makeup brush. “Take a look.”

Pidge stood and looked at herself in the mirror. She wore an elegant flowing emerald dress. Atop her head was a tiara more detailed than her usual one.

“You look amazing,” Allura commented.

“She had better,” Veronica stated. “Lance would never let me hear the end of it if I got the makeup wrong.”

For the bridal party Allura was Maid of honour with the positions of bridesmaids going her cousin Mia as well as Lance's sisters Veronica and Rachel. Pidge’s mother and father entered the tent.

“Pidge you look amazing,” Samuel stated.

“Thanks Dad.” Pidge replied.

“How do you feel?” Colleen asked.

“Good,” Pidge replied. When Colleen raised a skeptical eyebrow Pidge amended. “Absolutely terrified but I love Lance and want to be with him.”

Colleen smiled as she gave her daughter a hug.

Finally the bridal party was all prepared but before they left Pidge asked for a moment to do one last thing.

She walked up to Father Tree and placed a hand on the trunk. Her markings glowed as she connected with the ancient tree. 

“So what do you think old-timer, am I doing the right thing?”

In reply there was a low rumble and the sensation of the ground shifting beneath her. Suddenly two roots shot out from either side of Pidge. The roots then ran along ground, creating a path that was clearly heading towards the lake. The flowers then burst out of the roots to decorate the path.

“Well,” Pidge commented. “I can’t argue with that.”

* * *

There were more than a few gasps of surprise as two roots grew out from the forest. The roots ran up either side of the aisle, stopping just short of the altar before beautiful flowers burst out of the roots.

“You think this is Pidge’s handiwork?” Hunk asked.

“Actually I think it might be an old-timer giving his blessing,” He bent down to give one the roots a pat. “Thanks Pappy.”

The root wrapped around Lances hand and squeezed lightly before releasing it. Lance stood back up and got into position as the music started. Everyone in the audience got their feet as the bridal party entered from the forest.

Pidge lead the way, her flowing green dressing glowing with golden symbols. Allura carried the train as they exited the forest but released it as they got to the platform. The audience looked on in awe as Pidge walked up the aisle. Lance looked on in unbridled joyed.

The bride arrived at the altar and as she clasped hands with the groom the two became lost in each other's eyes.

Hunk meanwhile had become misty-eyed and muttering to himself to “keep it together”.

Coran, on the other hand, was bawling his eyes out.

King Alfor allowed the couple a brief moment before he began the ceremony.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Lance and Katie in holy matrimony. which is an honorable estate. This is not an institution that they have decided to enter lightly but out of their love and devotion for each other.Ifany one can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”

At that moment the Gombash raised himself to his full height and glared down at the audience.

“Although you may have to answer to him,” King Alfor added dryly.

This earned a chuckle from the audience, some more nervous than the rest. When it was clear no one was going to object, the Gombash settled back down.

“The union two souls is a moment great joy and celebration. It is with great pleasure that I now ask you two take these vows.”

“Lance, do you take Katie as your wife? To love and cherish for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“Katie, do you take Lance as your husband? To love and cherish for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“Then it is my honour, as ruler of Altea, to now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

As Lance and Pidge kissed, the audience erupted in applause.

**Author's Note:**

> Find Rue on [Tumblr](https://rueitae.tumblr.com/)! 
> 
> Find Hushman on [Tumblr](https://hushman.tumblr.com/)! 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked it!


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